In:
eLife, eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd, Vol. 4 ( 2015-09-15)
Abstract:
Although bacteria are commonly associated with causing illness, many are actually beneficial to the organism they live in or on. The phenomenon of one species helping another to survive is known as symbiosis. Animals thrive at hydrothermal vents in the deep sea because of their partnerships with symbiotic bacteria. The bacteria use the geochemical energy found at hydrothermal vents to convert carbon into sugars, thus providing their animal hosts with essential nutrients. Unlike the symbiotic communities that associate with humans and other mammals, in which thousands of bacterial species co-exist, deep-sea mussels associate with just one or two species of symbiotic bacteria. This relative simplicity is ideal for investigating how the intimate associations between animals and bacteria work. Genes contain the instructions cells and organisms need to survive, and so one way that researchers investigate symbiosis is by studying the genes of the organisms involved. Such studies of beneficial bacteria are beginning to reveal that the molecular mechanisms involved in symbiosis are remarkably similar to those responsible for the harmful effects produced by some bacteria. By performing genetic sequencing on the symbiotic bacteria from deep-sea mussels, Sayavedra et al. have discovered that the bacteria have an unusually large number of toxin-like genes, and that all of these genes are active in the bacteria when they are inside host mussels. This was unexpected, as the bacteria are known to benefit their mussel hosts. The toxin-like genes from the symbiotic bacteria are similar to toxins found in the bacteria that cause diseases such as cholera and the plague in humans and other animals. Sayavedra et al. suggest that the symbiotic bacteria have ‘tamed’ these toxins to use them in beneficial interactions with their host. For example, some of the toxins could help the bacteria and mussels to recognize and interact with each other, and others could help to protect the mussel host from its natural enemies. The next step will be to test these ideas, which will be challenging as the mussels cannot be bred in the laboratory.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
2050-084X
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.07966.001
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.07966.002
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.07966.003
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.07966.004
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.07966.005
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.07966.006
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.07966.007
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.07966.008
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.07966.009
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.07966.010
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.07966.011
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.07966.012
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.07966.013
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.07966.014
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.07966.015
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.07966.016
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.07966.017
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.07966.018
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.07966.019
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.07966.020
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.07966.021
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.07966.022
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.07966.023
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.07966.024
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.07966.025
Language:
English
Publisher:
eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd
Publication Date:
2015
detail.hit.zdb_id:
2687154-3
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