TEM observation studies on the chemoautotrophic symbiotic bacteria of invertebrates inhabiting at vents and seeps

Abstract

Chemoautotrophic symbiotic bacteria of organisms inhabiting the hydrothermal vent and cold seep communities in the deep-sea were histologically examined using a transmission electron microscopy on symbionts of Calyptogena sp. A from the site east off Miyako (water depth at 1,700m), Calyptogena sp. B from the 'Calyptogena Site', vestimentiferan tube worm Lamellibrachia sp. A from Sagami Bay Lamellibrachia sp. B from 'Calyptogena Site' of the Iheya Ridge, pogonophoran tube worms from Sagami Bay and 'Calyptogena Site' of the Iheya Ridge, Bathymodiolus spp. from Sagami Bay, the Iheya Ridge and the North Fiji Basin. Based on the morphological microscopic observations, two species of Calyptogena from Miyako and the Iheya Ridge, two species of vestimentiferan tube worms from Sagami Bay and the Iheya Ridge, and pogonophoran tube worms from Sagami Bay and the Iheya Ridge observed to host sulfur-oxidizing symbiotic bacteria. The occurrence of chemosynthetic symbionts in these organisms was expected beforehand based on the ecological observations of their habitats. Other members of these groups from the world oceans, and the recent advances in the symbiosis at vents and seeps were reviewed.