title: Trophosome of the Deep-Sea Tubeworm Riftia pachyptila Inhibits Bacterial Growth.
abstract: The giant tubeworm Riftia pachyptila lives in symbiosis with the chemoautotrophic gammaproteobacterium Cand. Endoriftia persephone. Symbionts are released back into the environment upon host death in high-pressure experiments, while microbial fouling is not involved in trophosome degradation. Therefore, we examined the antimicrobial effect of the tubeworm's trophosome and skin. The growth of all four tested Gram-positive, but only of one of the tested Gram-negative bacterial strains was inhibited by freshly fixed and degrading trophosome (incubated up to ten days at either warm or cold temperature), while no effect on Saccharomyces cerevisiae was observed. The skin did not show antimicrobial effects. A liquid chromatography-mass spectrometric analysis of the ethanol supernatant of fixed trophosomes lead to the tentative identification of the phospholipids 1-palmitoleyl-2-lyso-phosphatidylethanolamine, 2-palmitoleyl-1-lyso-phosphatidylethanolamine and the free fatty acids palmitoleic, palmitic and oleic acid, which are known to have an antimicrobial effect. As a result of tissue autolysis, the abundance of the free fatty acids increased with longer incubation time of trophosome samples. This correlated with an increasing growth inhibition of Bacillus subtilis and Listeria welshimeri, but not of the other bacterial strains. Therefore, the free fatty acids produced upon host degradation could be the cause of inhibition of at least these two bacterial strains.
authors.affiliation: Department of Limnology and Bio-Oceanography, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, A-1090 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Klose
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Ecosystem Science, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, A-1090 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Karin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Aistleitner
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Ecosystem Science, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, A-1090 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Horn
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacognosy, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, A-1090 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Liselotte
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Krenn
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacognosy, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, A-1090 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Verena
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Dirsch
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacognosy, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, A-1090 Vienna, Austria.|Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, A-1090, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zehl
authors.affiliation: Department of Limnology and Bio-Oceanography, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, A-1090 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Monika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bright
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001412:Bacillus subtilis / Q000254:growth & development*; D005230:Fatty Acids, Nonesterified / Q000378:metabolism; D008087:Listeria / Q000254:growth & development*; D011077:Polychaeta / Q000378:metabolism*; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000254:growth & development; D012867:Skin / Q000378:metabolism; D013559:Symbiosis / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D005230:Fatty Acids, Nonesterified