Divergent chemosymbiosis-related characters in Thyasira cf. gouldi (Bivalvia: Thyasiridae)

Within the marine bivalve family Thyasiridae, some species have bacterial chemosymbionts associated with gill epithelial cells while other species are asymbiotic. Although the abundance of symbionts in a particular thyasirid species may vary, the structure of their gills (i.e., their frontal-abfront...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2014-03, Vol.9 (3), p.e92856-e92856
Main Authors: Batstone, Rebecca T, Laurich, Jason R, Salvo, Flora, Dufour, Suzanne C
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Bacteria
Biology
Biology and Life Sciences
Bivalvia
Bivalvia - anatomy & histology
Bivalvia - classification
Bivalvia - genetics
Canada
Cluster Analysis
Cold
Cryptic species
Divergence
Earth Sciences
Ecology and Environmental Sciences
Epithelial cells
Filaments
Fjords
Gene sequencing
Geography
Gills
Gills - anatomy & histology
Gills - ultrastructure
Microscopy
Molecular Sequence Data
Morphology
Polymorphism, Genetic
Principal components analysis
RNA
RNA, Ribosomal, 18S - genetics
RNA, Ribosomal, 28S - genetics
rRNA 18S
rRNA 28S
Sediments
Shellfish
Spatial Analysis
Species
Symbionts
Symbiosis
Thickening
Thyasira
Thyasiridae
Vesicomyidae
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Summary:Within the marine bivalve family Thyasiridae, some species have bacterial chemosymbionts associated with gill epithelial cells while other species are asymbiotic. Although the abundance of symbionts in a particular thyasirid species may vary, the structure of their gills (i.e., their frontal-abfrontal thickening) does not. We examined gill structure in a species tentatively identified as Thyasira gouldi from a Northwest Atlantic fjord (Bonne Bay, Newfoundland) and found remarkable differences among specimens. Some individuals had thickened gill filaments with abundant symbionts, while others had thin filaments and lacked symbionts. We could differentiate symbiotic and asymbiotic specimens based on the size and outline of their shell as well as 18S rRNA, 28S rRNA and CO1 sequences. The wide morphological, genetic and symbiosis-related disparity described herein suggests that chemosymbiosis may influence host divergence, and that Thyasira gouldi forms a cryptic species complex.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0092856