title: Shift from widespread symbiont infection of host tissues to specific colonization of gills in juvenile deep-sea mussels.
abstract: The deep-sea mussel Bathymodiolus harbors chemosynthetic bacteria in its gills that provide it with nutrition. Symbiont colonization is assumed to occur in early life stages by uptake from the environment, but little is known about this process. In this study, we used fluorescence in situ hybridization to examine symbiont distribution and the specificity of the infection process in juvenile B. azoricus and B. puteoserpentis (4-21 mm). In the smallest juveniles, we observed symbionts, but no other bacteria, in a wide range of epithelial tissues. This suggests that despite the widespread distribution of symbionts in many different juvenile organs, the infection process is highly specific and limited to the symbiotic bacteria. Juveniles ≥ 9 mm only had symbionts in their gills, indicating an ontogenetic shift in symbiont colonization from indiscriminate infection of almost all epithelia in early life stages to spatially restricted colonization of gills in later developmental stages.
authors: Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, Symbiosis Group, Bremen, Germany. cwentrup@mpi-bremen.de
authors: Cecilia
authors: C
authors: Wentrup
authors: Annelie
authors: A
authors: Wendeberg
authors: Julie Y
authors: JY
authors: Huang
authors: Christian
authors: C
authors: Borowski
authors: Nicole
authors: N
authors: Dubilier
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001419:Bacteria / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D018407:Bacterial Physiological Phenomena; D005880:Gills / Q000382:microbiology; D017404:In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence; D049879:Mytilidae / Q000254:growth & development / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000502:physiology; D012623:Seawater / Q000382:microbiology; D013559:Symbiosis
references: Nat Rev Microbiol. 2008 Oct;6(10):725-40
references: 18794911
references: Nat Rev Microbiol. 2010 Mar;8(3):218-30
references: 20157340
references: Environ Microbiol. 2007 Jun;9(6):1423-38
references: 17504480
references: Appl Environ Microbiol. 2003 Nov;69(11):6785-92
references: 14602641
references: Fish Shellfish Immunol. 2004 Mar;16(3):287-94
references: 15123298
references: Mar Biotechnol (NY). 2012 Feb;14(1):69-78
references: 21603879
references: Environ Microbiol. 2009 May;11(5):1150-67
references: 19226299
references: Biol Bull. 2005 Apr;208(2):145-55
references: 15837964
references: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1993 Jun 15;90(12):5695-9
references: 8100068