Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
The mangrove swamp environment constitutes a sulphide rich habitat harbouring some thioautotrophic organisms. The ciliate Zoothamnium niveum and the nematode Eubostrichus dianae, both known to live associated with bacterial sulphide-oxidizing ectosymbionts, were analysed as positive controls by Raman microspectrometry. The detection of the 3 Raman bands characteristic of elemental sulphur (S8) allows us to define a positive model of sulphide-oxidizing symbiotic invertebrates and by extrapolation, of thioautotrophic organisms. A fast screening using this tool was carried out on eukaryotic organisms such as hydrozoan, nematodes, annelids, copepods, and ciliate (Pseudovorticella sp.) and on free-living filamentous bacteria found on decomposing leaves in order to detect thioautotrophic organisms. The Raman microspectrometry permits us: (i) to reveal thioautotrophic metabolism of free-living bacteria (Beggiatoa sp.) and even for Archaea and (ii) to detect sulphide-oxidizing endosymbiotic and ectosymbiotic bacteria associated with the Bivalve Lucina pectinata and Pseudovorticella sp., respectively. Raman microspectrometry represents a fast, easy and non destructive technique which can be used on living organisms without constraints of sample size. The Raman analysis can also be completed by ultrastructural analysis (SEM, TEM) on the same sample.
ISSN: 0141-1136

hal-00715329
https://hal.univ-antilles.fr/hal-00715329
DOI : 10.1016/j.marenvres.2010.02.001

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Oldendorf/Luhe
Résumé : International audience
Large filamentous sulfur-oxidizing bacteria belonging to the Beggiatoacae family can cover large portions of shallow marine sediments surrounding mangroves in Guadeloupe (French West Indies). In order to assess the importance of Beggiatoa mats as an infaunal food source, observations were conducted of the area within mats and at increasing distances from mats. We used natural isotopic compositions and a C-13 enrichment study. Both revealed an ingestion of bacterial mats by associated meiofauna, dominated by rotifers and to a smaller extent by small polychaetes and nematodes. Compared to adjacent sites, sediment covered by bacterial mats presented a higher abundance of diatoms, whereas the total biomass of bacteria did not vary. This constant bacterial abundance suggests that the proportion of organic matter represented by sulfur bacteria is limited compared to the fraction of total bacteria. There was no significant difference in infaunal abundance in mats, suggesting that the availability of this chemosynthetic food resource had a limited local effect. Grazers presented a delta C-13 value increasing with distance from the mat. However, isotopic composition of phospholipid-derived fatty acids specific for diatoms and bacteria revealed that this change is related to modifications of delta C-13 dietary components rather than to changes in diet composition. These complementary methods revealed that the occurrence of sulfur-oxidizing bacterial mats does not necessarily affect grazer abundance and importance of bacteria in their diet. Despite its wide occurrence, Beggiatoa mats would consequently have a minor influence on the structure of the mangrove food web.
ISSN: 0171-8630

hal-01545912
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01545912
DOI : 10.3354/meps11035

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Wiley
Résumé : International audience
Haplognathia ruberrima is a cosmopolitan gnathostomulid species found in sulfur bacterial mats in mangroves in Guadeloupe (French West Indies). Haplognathia ruberrima presents a d13C value lower than all measured meiofaunal grazers and lower than the available measured food sources of this environment. This low d13C value can not be due to specific ingestion of 13C-depleted methanogenic bacteria because abundances of those bacteria are reduced in surficial and deep sediments as revealed by d13C of bacterial fatty acid. According to scanning electron microscope observations, no bacterial ectosymbionts were observed at the surface of the gnathostomulids, and transmission electronmicroscope views revealed the absence of bacterial endosymbionts. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy analysis detected low levels of sulfur (0.32%+-0.8) in biological tissues of H. ruberrima, confirming the absence of thioautotrophic bacterial symbionts in these animals. Consequently, the low d13C value of H. ruberrima can not be due to the presence of sulfur-oxidizing symbionts but more probably to the selective and exclusive consumption of free-living, sulfuroxidizing bacteria
ISSN: 0173-9565

hal-01253239
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01253239
DOI : 10.1111/maec.12296

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Oxford University Press (OUP)
Résumé : International audience
This study describes the structure of the digestive gland of Strombus gigas in individuals from Guadeloupe and discusses the function of its cell types and their relationship with intracellular Apicomplexa-like parasites. Three cellular types were found in the epithelium of the blind-ending tubules of the digestive gland according to histological and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observations; these were: digestive cells, pyramidal crypt cells and vacuolated cells. Columnar digestive cells were characterized by large Alcian blue-positive granules, which have not been previously described in digestive cells of other caenogastropods. Such granules contain large quantities of proteoglycans that are exported to the stomach through the physiological destruction of the digestive cells, which undergo a holocrine secretion. Their cytoplasm appears vacuolar due to lipid extraction by solvents used for tissue preparation. Vacuolated cells also appear to be lipid-storage cells. Small triangular-shaped crypt cells, on the other hand, appear to be metabolically active as suggested by a strong positive in situ hybridization of eukaryotic ribosomes, which was confirmed by their large content of ribosomes and rough endoplasmic reticulum compared to the other cell types. These observations suggest that crypt cells may be immature cells that are involved in the replacement of eliminated digestive cells. However, their spherocrystal inclusions indicate that they may be excretory cells or calcium cells. Large brown inclusions were frequently observed in vacuolated cells; these were identified as parasitic protozoans and were present in the digestive gland of all sampled specimens. These protozoans have previously been described from a queen conch population in the San Andres Archipelago (Colombia). Several life cycle stages of the parasite were identified by scanning electron microscopy and TEM; trophozoites were characterized by their conoid-like structure, sporocysts by their thick walls, and gamonts by their thin walls. These observations suggest that this parasite completes its entire life cycle within the same host and type of tissue. Although previous investigations place this parasite within the Apicomplexa group, further investigations are necessary in order to confirm the identification of the parasite.
ISSN: 0260-1230

hal-00755287
https://hal.univ-antilles.fr/hal-00755287
DOI : 10.1093/mollus/eyn041

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Springer Verlag
Résumé : International audience
In this study, the cellular organization of the gill that harbors symbiotic bacteria is described in the thyasirid Thyasira falklandica collected from South Shetlands in Antarctic. Sections of the gills revealed that T. falklandica belongs to the gill type 3, as described by Dufour (Biol Bull, 208:200-212, 2005), with an elongated lateral zone along the frontal-abfrontal axis of the gill Wlaments. The ciliated and intermediary zones looked similar to those described in symbionts-bearing bivalves. The lateral zone is more complex in T. falklandica than in other Thyasiridae already described. Such a zone is composed of four different cell types. Bacteriocytes are abundant in the frontal and abfrontal positions, while the middle part of the lateral zone is occupied mostly by numerous granule cells devoid of bacteria. All along the lateral zone, TEM and SEM observations show some ciliated cells, which are regularly interspersed between bacteriocytes and/or granule cells. Such cells, according to the long double ciliary roots of their cilia, should have a sensory function. Intercalary cells, which have never been observed between bacteriocytes, are restricted to the middle part of the lateral zone where their expansions overlap the adjacent granule cells. Bacterial symbionts occur only extracellularly among long microvilli diVerentiated by the bacteriocytes. They are abundant, usually spherical in shape (around 0.7 m length), and covered by the glycocalix from bacteriocyte microvilli. According to TEM views, the empty vesicles located in the periplasmic space should be sulfur storage, as known for other sulfur-oxidizing symbionts.
ISSN: 0720-213X

hal-00755289
https://hal.univ-antilles.fr/hal-00755289
DOI : 10.1007/s00435-007-0034-4

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : International audience
The 20th Caribbean Academy of Sciences Biennal Meeting was held in Guadeloupe, FWI, on November 24 th to 26 th, 2016. It has gathered over 130 participants from more than 14 countries within or outside the Caribbean. In this booklet, you may find all abstracts form the scientific sessions, and the desciption of two round tables and three symposiums. Sessions were as followed :- Poster session- Mathematics and Informatics- Science Education- Physics of the Athmosphere- Medical Sciences (1)- Interface and Material Physics- Radiochemistry and Nuclear Medicine and Biomolecules- Interdisciplinary Oral Session- Biology- Hydrology and Hydrodynamics- Material and Environmental Chemistry- Medical Sciences (2)
https://hal.univ-antilles.fr/hal-01413318
Dehaies, Guadeloupe

hal-01413318
https://hal.univ-antilles.fr/hal-01413318
https://hal.univ-antilles.fr/hal-01413318v2/document
https://hal.univ-antilles.fr/hal-01413318/file/CAS_2016_Booklet.pdf

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Wiley-Blackwell
Résumé : International audience
ISSN: 0168-6496

hal-01682106
https://hal.univ-antilles.fr/hal-01682106
DOI : 10.1111/1574-6941.12366

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Royal Society, The
Résumé : International audience
Bathymodiolin mussels occur at hydrothermal vents and cold seeps, where they thrive thanks to symbiotic associations with chemotrophic bacteria. Closely related genera Idas and Adipicola are associated with organic falls, ecosystems that have been suggested as potential evolutionary 'stepping stones' in the colonization of deeper and more sulphide-rich environments. Such a scenario should result from specializations to given environments from species with larger ecological niches. This study provides molecular-based evidence for the existence of two mussel species found both on sunken wood and bones. Each species specifically harbours one bacterial phylotype corresponding to thioautotrophic bacteria related to other bathymodiolin symbionts. Phylogenetic patterns between hosts and symbionts are partially congruent. However, active endocytosis and occurrences of minor symbiont lineages within species which are not their usual host suggest an environmental or horizontal rather than strictly vertical transmission of symbionts. Although the bacteria are close relatives, their localization is intracellular in one mussel species and extracellular in the other, suggesting that habitat choice is independent of the symbiont localization. The variation of bacterial densities in host tissues is related to the substrate on which specimens were sampled and could explain the abilities of host species to adapt to various substrates.
ISSN: 0950-1193

hal-00755293
https://hal.univ-antilles.fr/hal-00755293
DOI : 10.1098/rspb.2008.1101

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Wiley
Résumé : International audience
Digestive tubules of Strombidae are composed by three cell types: digestive cells, vacuolated cells, and crypt cells. The last one is characterized by the presence of intracellular granules identified as spherocrystals. Such structures are known to occur in basophilic cells of gastropod digestive gland, where they are supposed to be involved in the regulation of some minerals and in detoxification. In this study, energy-dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX) and energy filtered transmission electron microscopy (EFTEM) were used to determine the elemental content of spherocrystals in two Strombidae, Strombus gigas and Strombus pugilis. In freshly collected individuals of both species, the following elements were detected: Ca, Fe, Mg, P, and Zn. Aluminum and Mn were also detected in S. gigas. Their presence in spherocrystals indicates that, in Strombidae, spherocrystals are involved in the regulation of minerals and essential trace metals. In order to answer the question ''are spherocrystals involved in nonessential trace metals scavenging?,'' artificial cadmium and lead exposure by both waterborne and dietary pathways was applied to S. pugilis. No evidence of cadmium (Cd(NO3)2) or lead (Pb(NO3)2) provided by food was found in spherocrystals. Cadmium provided in water (Cd(NO3)2 and CdCl2) causes structural modifications of the digestive gland; however, this element was not trapped in spherocrystals. These results suggest that spherocrystals are not involved in detoxification of such nonessential trace metals.
ISSN: 1059-910X

hal-00743762
https://hal.univ-antilles.fr/hal-00743762
DOI : 10.1002/jemt.21073

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Wiley-Blackwell
Résumé : International audience
Abstract Numerous freshwater species are consumed or exploited through artisanal fisheries in the rivers of the islands of Guadeloupe, French West Indies. Autochthonous production of organic matter is limited in these flowing rivers and is mainly represented by scarce filamentous green algae and an abundant epilithic biofilm growing on wet stones in the river bed. Stable isotope analysis was used to quantify the relative importance of biofilm and other riverine allochthonous and autochthonous food sources in the diet of tropical shrimps (Palaemonidae, Atyidae and Xiphocarididae) and fishes (Gobiidae and Eleotridae) consumed by the local people. The epilithic biofilm was exploited by most species, constituted an important source of autochthonous carbon and was an important source of organic matter production at the base of freshwater food webs in Caribbean rivers. Biofilm percentages in the diet reached 32% for molluscs, 85% for atyid shrimps, 29% for xiphocaridid shrimps, 14% for palaemonid shrimps and 13% for fish. Assessment of biofilm in nine rivers showed that blue and red cyanobacteria were quantitatively dominant with a moderately rich diatom flora. These results address the interactions between river biofilm and Caribbean freshwater fauna where trophic links between consumers and their potential resources have poorly been documented.
ISSN: 0969-997X

hal-00744809
https://hal.univ-antilles.fr/hal-00744809
DOI : 10.1111/j.1365-2400.2010.00767.x

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Wood debris are an important component of mangrove marine environments. Current knowledge of the ecological role of wood falls is limited by the absence of information on metazoan colonization processes over time. The aim of this study was to provide insights to their temporal dynamics of wood eukaryotic colonization from a shallow water experiment in a mangrove swamp. Combined in situ chemical monitoring and biological surveys revealed that the succession of colonizers in the mangrove swamp relates with the rapid evolution of sulfide concentration on the wood surface. Sulfide-tolerant species are among the first colonizers and dominate over several weeks when the sulfide content is at its maximum, followed by less tolerant opportunistic species when sulfide decreases. This study supports the idea that woody debris can sustain chemosynthetic symbioses over short time-scale in tropical shallow waters.
ISSN: 0141-1136

hal-01545913
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01545913
DOI : 10.1016/j.marenvres.2013.03.007

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Wiley
Résumé : International audience
Cold seeps have recently been discovered in the Nile deep-sea fan (Eastern Mediterranean), and data regarding associated fauna are still scarce. In this study, two bivalve species associated with carbonate crusts and reduced sediment are identified based on sequence analysis of their 18S and 28S rRNAencoding genes, and associated bacterial symbioses are investigated using 16S rRNA gene sequencing and microscopy-based approaches. The specimens are closely related to Myrtea spinifera and Thyasira flexuosa, two species previously documented at various depths from other regions but not yet reported from the Eastern Mediterranean. Both species harbour abundant gammaproteobacterial endosymbionts in specialized gill epithelial cells. The Myrtea-associated bacterium is closely related to lucinid symbionts from both deep-sea and coastal species, whereas the Thyasira-associated bacterium is closely related to the symbiont of a T. flexuosa from coastal waters off the U.K. An epsilonproteobacterial sequence has also been identified in Thyasira which could correspond to a helicoid-shaped morphotype observed by electron microscopy, but this was not confirmed using fluorescent in situ hybridization. Virus-like particles were observed within some symbionts in Thyasira, mostly in bacteriocytes localized close to the ciliated zone of the gill filament. Overall, results indicate that very close relatives of shallow species M. spinifera and T. flexuosa occur at cold seeps in the Eastern Mediterranean and harbour chemoautotrophic symbioses similar to those found in their coastal relatives.
ISSN: 0173-9565

hal-00743765
https://hal.univ-antilles.fr/hal-00743765
DOI : 10.1111/j.1439-0485.2010.00413.x

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Springer Verlag
Résumé : International audience
PurposeMarine mangrove sediments in the Manche-à-Eau lagoon (Guadeloupe, Caribbean Sea) harbor locally extensive, white microbial mats. These mats cover the surface of reduced sediments near the roots of red mangrove trees, Rhizophora mangle, and are mainly composed of sulfur-oxidizing bacteria belonging to the Beggiatoaceae family, with some filamentous cyanobacteria. The goal of this study was to investigate the possible influence of sediment characteristics on the presence of these microbial mats.Materials and methodsFour push cores were collected in April 2013, two from zones with microbial mats and two from zones without mats. Sediment characteristics (grain-size distribution, mineralogy, total organic carbon (TOC) and total nitrogen (TN) contents, atomic TOC/TN ratios, and organic matter (OM) δ13C values) were compared for all four cores.Results and discussionSignificant differences were observed between sediments below microbial mats and those without mats. Sediments with microbial mats contained greater amounts of clay, and higher TOC, TN, and TOC/TN ratios, with lower total carbonate content and δ13C values. The higher clay content most likely results from lower fluid flow velocity near to mangrove roots, while higher TOC/TN ratios and lower δ13C values indicate higher inputs of OM from mangrove trees. These results are consistent with the fact that microbial mats were observed near the roots of mangrove trees, which trap OM from terrestrial vegetation and fine sediments.ConclusionsThe grain-size distribution of sediment particles, the total carbonate content, and the δ13C values are the main parameters discriminating between zones with microbial mats and those without mats. Variations in total carbonate content, which is mainly of biogenic origin, result from conditions that are more favorable for benthic organisms in zones without microbial mats. Variations of the TOC/TN ratios are controlled by the presence of a non-negligible amount of inorganic nitrogen bound to surface clay mineral particles and/or by microbial processes.
ISSN: 1439-0108

hal-01545903
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01545903
DOI : 10.1007/s11368-016-1555-6

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Wiley-Blackwell
Résumé : International audience
In this multidisciplinary study, we combined morphological, physiological, and phylogenetic approaches to identify three dominant water bloom-forming Cyanobacteria in a tropical marine mangrove in Guadeloupe (French West Indies). Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences place these marine Cyanobacteria in the genera Oscillatoria (Oscillatoria sp. clone gwada, strain OG) or Planktothricoides (Candidatus Planktothricoides niger' strain OB and Candidatus Planktothricoides rosea' strain OP; both provisionally novel species within the genus Planktothricoides). Bioassays showed that Candidatus Planktothricoides niger' and Candidatus Planktothricoides rosea' are toxin-producing organisms. This is the first report of the characterization of Cyanobacteria colonizing periphyton mats of a tropical marine mangrove. We describe two novel benthic marine species and provide new insight into Oscillatoriaceae and their potential role in marine sulfide-rich environments such as mangroves.
ISSN: 0378-1097

hal-01536679
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01536679
DOI : 10.1111/1574-6968.12551

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD De Gruyter
Résumé : International audience
Coral reefs have undergone profound ecological changes over recent decades. Areas formerly covered by scleractinian coral species are now often overgrown by macroalgae. In Martinique (West Indies), this phenomenon has lead to the colonisation of numerous coral reefs by algae, amongst which Sargassum is one of the most prominent. This study focuses on potential defence molecules produced by Sargassum polyceratium. The hexane dipping method was employed to extract surface molecules on fresh material, and their bioactivities were assessed against bacteria (marine and estuarine), and marine tropical invertebrates wan annelid (Pseudonereis sp.), a bivalve (Codakia orbicularis) and a sea urchin (Diadema antillarum)x. Extracts were active against all microorganisms tested (MICs150 or 300 mg ml-1), early stages of development in Pseudonereis sp. (MICs100 mg ml-1) and embryos of C. orbicularis and D. antillarum (MICs5 mg ml-1), suggesting the production of defence compounds by S. polyceratium.
ISSN: 0006-8055

hal-00746082
https://hal.univ-antilles.fr/hal-00746082
https://hal.univ-antilles.fr/hal-00746082/document
https://hal.univ-antilles.fr/hal-00746082/file/Publication_Sargassum_bortanica_marina.pdf
DOI : 10.1515/BOT.2011.014

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Springer Verlag
Résumé : International audience
Banana has been a main agricultural product in the French West Indies (Guadeloupe and Martinique) since the 1960s. This crop requires the intensive use of pesticides to prevent attacks by insect pests. Chlorinated pesticides, such as hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH), chlordecone and dieldrin, were used until the beginning of the 1990s, resulting in a generalized diffuse contamination of the soil and water in the areas of banana production, hence the need to develop solutions for cleanup of the polluted sites. The aims of this work were (i) to assess lindane degradation in soil slurry microcosms treated with lindane at 10 mg/L and (ii) to detect the catabolic genes involved in the HCH degradation pathway. The soil slurry microcosm system showed a 40 % lindane degradation efficiency at the end of a 30-day experiment. Lower lindane removal was also detected in the abiotic controls, probably caused by pesticide adsorption to soil particles. Indeed, the lindane concentration decreased from 6000 to 1330 ng/mL and from 800 to 340 ng/mL for the biotic and abiotic soils, respectively. Nevertheless, some of the genes involved in the HCH degradation pathway were amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) from crude deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) extracted from the Guadeloupe agricultural soil, suggesting that HCH degradation is probably mediated by bacteria closely related to the family Sphingomonadaceae.
ISSN: 0944-1344

hal-01545905
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01545905
DOI : 10.1007/s11356-015-5875-7

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Inter-Research
Résumé : International audience
Sphaeroma serratum is a marine isopod species that inhabits seashores from Europe to West Africa. The individuals live under stones in direct contact with reduced sediments and harbour a diverse bacterial community on the cuticle of their pleopods. We investigated the diversity of these epibiotic bacteria on male (pubescent and senescent) and female specimens with electron microscopic obser vations and molecular tools. The microbial community of S. serratum was shown to be composed of at least 5 bacterial morphotypes observed on the pleopodal cuticle in all male specimens. Using fluorescence in situ hybridization, we identified 5 major phylogenetic groups (α-, β-, γ- and δ-Proteobacteria and Archaea) whereas denaturing gradient gel electro - phoresis (DGGE) of PCR-amplified 16S rRNA gene fragments of epibiotic bacteria revealed 50 bands. The bacterial community associated with S. serratum seems more diverse than in other marine crustaceans, such as Rimicaris. The relative diversity of this bacterial community was also studied in relation to the molt cycle. The comparison of DGGE band patterns of several individuals from female, pubescent male and senescent male groups revealed that the bacterial community diversity was dependent on the sex and the age of the individuals and more generally on the molt status.
Marine Ecology Progress Series

hal-00743743
https://hal.univ-antilles.fr/hal-00743743
DOI : 10.3354/meps09711

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Wiley-Blackwell
Résumé : International audience
The first studies of the 16S rRNA gene diversity of the bacterial symbionts found in lucinid clams did not clarify how symbiotic associations had evolved in this group. Indeed, although species-specific associations deriving from a putative ancestral symbiotic association have been described (coevolution scenario), associations between the same bacterial species and various host species (opportunistic scenario) have also been described. Here, we carried out a comparative molecular analysis of hosts, based on 18S and 28S rRNA gene sequences, and of symbionts, based on 16S rRNA gene sequences, to determine as to which evolutionary scenario led to modern lucinid/symbiont associations. For all sequences analyzed, we found only three bacterial symbiont species, two of which are harbored by lucinids colonizing mangrove swamps. The last symbiont is the most common and was found to be independent of biotope or depth. Another interesting feature is the similarity of ctenidial organization of lucinids from the Philippines to those described previously, with the exception that two bacterial morphotypes were observed in two different species (Gloverina rectangularis and Myrtea flabelliformis). Thus, there is apparently no specific association between Lucinidae and their symbionts, the association taking place according to which bacterial species is present in the environment.
ISSN: 0168-6496

hal-00743766
https://hal.univ-antilles.fr/hal-00743766
DOI : 10.1111/j.1574-6941.2010.00989.x

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD American Society for Microbiology
Résumé : International audience
The bivalve Codakia orbicularis, hosting sulfur-oxidizing gill endosymbionts, was starved (in artificial seawater filtered through a 0.22- m-pore-size membrane) for a long-term experiment (4 months). The effects of starvation were observed using transmission electron microscopy, fluorescence in situ hybridization and catalyzed reporter deposition (CARD-FISH), and flow cytometry to monitor the anatomical and physiological modifications in the gill organization of the host and in the symbiotic population housed in bacteriocytes. The abundance of the symbiotic population decreased through starvation, with a loss of one-third of the bacterial population each month, as shown by CARD-FISH. At the same time, flow cytometry revealed significant changes in the physiology of symbiotic cells, with a decrease in cell size and modifications to the nucleic acid content, while most of the symbionts maintained a high respiratory activity (measured using the 5-cyano-2,3-ditolyl tetrazolium chloride method). Progressively, the number of symbiont subpopulations was reduced, and the subsequent multigenomic state, characteristic of this symbiont in freshly collected clams, turned into one and five equivalent genome copies for the two remaining subpopulations after 3 months. Concomitant structural modifications appeared in the gill organization. Lysosymes became visible in the bacteriocytes, while large symbionts disappeared, and bacteriocytes were gradually replaced by granule cells throughout the entire lateral zone. Those data suggested that host survival under these starvation conditions was linked to symbiont digestion as the main nutritional source.
ISSN: 0099-2240

hal-00750419
https://hal.univ-antilles.fr/hal-00750419
DOI : 10.1128/AEM.02659-08

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Nature Publishing Group
Résumé : International audience
The shallow water bivalve Codakia orbicularis lives in symbiotic association with a sulfur-oxidizing bacterium in its gills. The endosymbiont fixes CO2 and thus generates organic carbon compounds, which support the host's growth. To investigate the uncultured symbiont's metabolism and symbiont-host interactions in detail we conducted a proteogenomic analysis of purified bacteria. Unexpectedly, our results reveal a hitherto completely unrecognized feature of the C. orbicularis symbiont's physiology: the symbiont's genome encodes all proteins necessary for biological nitrogen fixation (diazotrophy). Expression of the respective genes under standard ambient conditions was confirmed by proteomics. Nitrogenase activity in the symbiont was also verified by enzyme activity assays. Phylogenetic analysis of the bacterial nitrogenase reductase NifH revealed the symbiont's close relationship to free-living nitrogen-fixing Proteobacteria from the seagrass sediment. The C. orbicularis symbiont, here tentatively named `Candidatus Thiodiazotropha endolucinida', may thus not only sustain the bivalve's carbon demands. C. orbicularis may also benefit from a steady supply of fixed nitrogen from its symbiont-a scenario that is unprecedented in comparable chemoautotrophic symbioses.
ISSN: 2058-5276

hal-01545904
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01545904
DOI : 10.1038/nmicrobiol.2016.193