Appl. Environ. Microbiol., May 1995, 1679-1687, Vol 61, No. 5
A Haddad, F Camacho, P Durand and SC Cary
Alvinella pompejana is a polychaetous annelid that inhabits active deep-
sea hydrothermal vent sites along the East Pacific Rise, where it colonizes
the walls of actively venting high-temperature chimneys. An abundant,
morphologically diverse epibiotic microflora is associated with the worm's
dorsal integument, with a highly integrated filamentous morphotype clearly
dominating the microbial biomass. It has been suggested that this bacterial
population participates in either the nutrition of the worm or in
detoxification of the worm's immediate environment. The primary goal of
this study was to phylogenetically characterize selected epibionts through
the analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences. Nucleic acids were extracted from
bacteria collected from the dorsal surface of A. pompejana. 16S rRNA genes
were amplified with universal bacterial primers by the PCR. These genes
were subsequently cloned, and the resulting clone library was screened by
restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis to identify distinct
clone types. The restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis
identified 32 different clone families in the library. Four of these
families were clearly dominant, representing more than 65% of the library.
Representatives from the four most abundant clone families were chosen for
complete 16S rRNA gene sequencing and phylogenetic analysis. These gene
sequences were analyzed by a variety of phylogenetic inference methods and
found to be related to the newly established epsilon subdivision of the
division Proteobacteria. Secondary structural model comparisons and
comparisons of established signature base positions in the 16S rRNA
confirmed the placement of the Alvinella clones in the epsilon subdivision
of the Proteobacteria.
Copyright © 1995, American Society for Microbiology
Phylogenetic characterization of the epibiotic bacteria associated with the hydrothermal vent polychaete Alvinella pompejana
Department of Microbiology, Oregon State University, Corvallis 97331, USA.
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