title: First detection of thiotrophic symbiont phylotypes in the pelagic marine environment.
abstract: Marine oligochaete and nematode thiotrophic symbionts (MONTS) form a phylogenetic cluster within the Gammaproteobacteria. For the symbionts that live on the nematode surface, environmental transmission is likely. However, until now, no free-living relatives have been found. In this study, we detected MONTS cluster members in offshore surface seawater of both the Caribbean and the Mediterranean Sea by PCR amplification of their 16S rRNA genes. This is the first evidence of members of this cluster in the pelagic environment. These may either be free-living forms of the symbionts or closely related, nonsymbiotic strains. In either case, their existence sheds light on the evolution of beneficial symbioses between shallow water invertebrates and sulfur-oxidizing bacteria.
authors: Department of Genetics in Ecology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
authors: Niels R
authors: NR
authors: Heindl
authors: Harald R
authors: HR
authors: Gruber-Vodicka
authors: Christoph
authors: C
authors: Bayer
authors: Sebastian
authors: S
authors: Lücker
authors: Joerg A
authors: JA
authors: Ott
authors: Silvia
authors: S
authors: Bulgheresi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D017691:Caribbean Region; D020563:Gammaproteobacteria / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D008522:Mediterranean Sea; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009348:Nematoda / Q000382:microbiology*; D010802:Phylogeny; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D012623:Seawater / Q000382:microbiology*; D013559:Symbiosis
chemical_list: D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S