Symbiosis insights through metagenomic analysis of a microbialconsortium
Symbioses between bacteria and eukaryotes are ubiquitous, yet our understanding of the interactions driving these associations is hampered by our inability to cultivate most host-associated microbes. Here, we used a metagenomic approach to describe four co-occurring symbionts from the marine oligochaete Olavius algarvensis, a worm lacking a mouth, gut, and nephridia. Shotgun sequencing and metabolic pathway reconstruction revealed that the symbionts are sulfur-oxidizing and sulfate-reducing bacteria, all of which are capable of carbon fixation, providing the host with multiple sources of nutrition. Molecular evidence for the uptake and recycling of worm waste products by the symbionts suggests how the worm could eliminate its excretory system, an adaptation unique among annelid worms. We propose a model which describes how the versatile metabolism within this symbiotic consortium provides the host with an optimal energy supply as it shuttles between the upper oxic and lower anoxic coastal sediments which it inhabits.
- Research Organization:
- Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley NationalLaboratory, Berkeley, CA (US)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Director. Office of Science. Biological andEnvironmental Research
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC02-05CH11231
- OSTI ID:
- 914504
- Report Number(s):
- LBNL--60435; BnR: KP1103010
- Journal Information:
- Nature, Journal Name: Nature Journal Issue: 7114 Vol. 443
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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