The life cycle of the deep-sea Bathymodiolus metaorganism: symbiont transmission and colonization of the host gill epithelium (C03)

• Subject Area: Evolutionary Cell and Developmental Biology (Zoology)
• Term: from 2016 to 2019
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 261376515

Bathymodiolus mussels rely on intracellular symbiotic bacteria in their gill epithelia that use reduced chemicals from the environment such as hydrogen sulfide and methane as an energy source to fix carbon dioxide or methane into biomass. Many Bathymodiolus species host two co-occurring symbionts, a single sulfur-oxidizing species and a single methane-oxidizing species. However, recent molecular studies revealed that strain diversity within these two symbiont species is greater than previously assumed based on 16S rRNA gene analyses. Here we propose to study the Bathymodiolus symbiont population dynamics and the impact of microbial diversification on the metaorganism development and function. Our research is expected to reveal new insights into the ecology and evolutionary dynamics of symbiont acquisition and transmission mode, as well as a better understanding of the role of symbiont diversity in the ecology and evolution of metaorganisms.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• Subproject of: SFB 1182: Origin and Function of Metaorganisms
• Applicant Institution: Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel
• Co-Applicant Institution: Max-Planck-Institut für Marine Mikrobiologie
• Project Heads: Professorin Dr. Tal Dagan; Professorin Dr. Nicole Dubilier