Electron microscopic studies on Zoothamnium niveum (Hemprich &amp; Ehrenberg, 1831) Ehrenberg 1838 (Oligohymenophora, Peritrichida), a ciliate with ectosymbiotic, chemoautotrophic bacteria

Bauer-Nebelsick, Monika; Bardele, Christian F.; Ott, Jörg

doi:10.1016/s0932-4739(96)80020-4

Cited by 49 publications

(87 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…Whether the folliculinid ciliate depends on symbionts has not yet been demonstrated. However, symbioses form between ciliates and chemoautotrophic bacteria in other reducing environments (Bauer-Nebelsick et al 1996, Nussbaumer et al 2004, and the very depleted values found here for the folliculinid ciliate corroborate unpublished SEM observations of bacteria covering the surface of this ciliate (C.R.F. unpubl.…”

Section: Symbiont-bearing Faunasupporting

confidence: 89%

Using stable isotopes and quantitative community characteristics to determine a local hydrothermal vent food web

Bergquist¹,

Eckner

Urcuyo³

et al. 2007

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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To investigate food web structure in diffuse flow vent environments, an entire macrofaunal community associated with a single aggregation of the tubeworm Ridgeia piscesae was collected from a vent field on the Juan de Fuca Ridge in the NE Pacific. All members of the community were identified and enumerated, and the biomass and stable carbon (δ 13 C) and nitrogen (δ 15 N) isotope ratios were determined for almost all taxa. Symbiont-bearing invertebrates (primarily R. piscesae) accounted for a vast majority of the biomass of the community, and 3 presumably grazing bacterivorous gastropods dominated the biomass of the consumer fauna. Biomass and abundance of individuals declined from the bacterivore to the scavenger/detritivore to the predator feeding guild. Several species (a folliculinid ciliate, Idas washingtonia, Provanna variabilis) possessed unique stable isotope signatures, suggesting the possibility of symbiotic relationships with autotrophic bacteria. Stable isotope values varied widely between and occasionally within species in the lowest consumer levels suggesting a great diversity of food source 13 C and 15 N composition. Based on the distinct isotopic values of 3 bacterivores, 3 potential pools of isotopically-distinct microbial production were identified. The 4 highest-biomass predatory species (all polynoids) possessed δ 13 C and δ 15 N values consistent with a diet that included the tubeworm R. piscesae, a species comprising 83% of the total biomass in the collection, and the gastropod Depressigyra globulus, a species comprising 10% of the total biomass in the collection. A potential specialist predator (Clypeosectus curvus) on folliculinid ciliates was also identified. Overall the study suggested a dominant pattern of energy transfer from microbial producers to symbiont-bearing siboglinid tubeworms, various bacterivores (gastropods, polychaetes and pycnogonids), and detritivorous polychaetes to predaceous polynoids.

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Section: Symbiont-bearing Faunasupporting

confidence: 89%

Using stable isotopes and quantitative community characteristics to determine a local hydrothermal vent food web

Bergquist¹,

Eckner

Urcuyo³

et al. 2007

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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“…Although our approach did not allow us to exclude microheterogeneity within this symbiont population, we were able to demonstrate the transition of the Z. niveum ectosymbiont morphology from rods to coccoid rods on the microzooids by SEM in this and in previous studies (4,5), and by FISH using two ectosymbiont-specific probes.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 58%

“…The feather-like Z. niveum colonies, which reach sizes up to 1.5 cm, consist of a central stalk with branches occurring alternately on the stalk and three cellular morphotypes on the branches: (i) microzooids are the feeding stages; (ii) macrozooids are the dispersal stages, capable of leaving the colony as large swarmers to build a new colony after settlement; and (iii) terminal zooids are responsible for asexual reproduction by longitudinal fission (4,5) (Fig. 1).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…niveum has been found exclusively in obligatory association with ectosymbiotic bacteria that are responsible for the ciliate's brilliant white color (4,5). Z. niveum is virtually completely covered by these bacteria appearing as rods and coccoid rods arranged in a highly specific and permanently occurring pattern (Fig.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Macrozooids, terminal zooids, and branches are occupied by a monolayer of rod-shaped bacteria (average length, 1.4 m; average width, 0.4 m), whereas bacteria on the oral side of microzooids are coccoid to rod shaped (average length, 1.9 m; average width, 1.0 m) (5). The series of transitional morphological stages from rods to coccoid rods found on the microzooids suggests the presence of a single ectosymbiotic bacterial species on Z. niveum (5,7). This regular coat, however, appears to be disturbed and replaced by a variety of other bacterial morphotypes on the basal parts of large colonies only (44).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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“CandidatusThiobios zoothamnicoli,” an Ectosymbiotic Bacterium Covering the Giant Marine CiliateZoothamnium niveum

Schmitz‐Esser

Stoecker

Nussbaumer

et al. 2006

Appl Environ Microbiol

104

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Zoothamnium niveum is a giant, colonial marine ciliate from sulfide-rich habitats obligatorily covered with chemoautotrophic, sulfide-oxidizing bacteria which appear as coccoid rods and rods with a series of intermediate shapes. Comparative 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis and fluorescence in situ hybridization showed that the ectosymbiont of Z. niveum belongs to only one pleomorphic phylotype. The Z. niveum ectosymbiont is only moderately related to previously identified groups of thiotrophic symbionts within the Gammaproteobacteria, and shows highest 16S rRNA sequence similarity with the free-living sulfur-oxidizing bacterial strain ODIII6 from shallowwater hydrothermal vents of the Mediterranean Sea (94.5%) and an endosymbiont from a deep-sea hydrothermal vent gastropod of the Indian Ocean Ridge (93.1%). A replacement of this specific ectosymbiont by a variety of other bacteria was observed only for senescent basal parts of the host colonies. The taxonomic status "Candidatus Thiobios zoothamnicoli" is proposed for the ectosymbiont of Z. niveum based on its ultrastructure, its 16S rRNA gene, the intergenic spacer region, and its partial 23S rRNA gene sequence.

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Protistan-Prokaryotic Symbioses in Deep-Sea Sulfidic Sediments

Buck

Bernhard

Cellular Origin, Life in Extreme Habitats and Astrobiology

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Electron microscopic studies on Zoothamnium niveum (Hemprich & Ehrenberg, 1831) Ehrenberg 1838 (Oligohymenophora, Peritrichida), a ciliate with ectosymbiotic, chemoautotrophic bacteria

Cited by 49 publications

References 38 publications

Using stable isotopes and quantitative community characteristics to determine a local hydrothermal vent food web

Using stable isotopes and quantitative community characteristics to determine a local hydrothermal vent food web

“CandidatusThiobios zoothamnicoli,” an Ectosymbiotic Bacterium Covering the Giant Marine CiliateZoothamnium niveum

Protistan-Prokaryotic Symbioses in Deep-Sea Sulfidic Sediments

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