A chemosynthetic weed: the tubeworm Sclerolinum contortum is a bipolar, cosmopolitan species
A chemosynthetic weed: the tubeworm Sclerolinum contortum is a bipolar, cosmopolitan species
Background:
Sclerolinum (Annelida: Siboglinidae) is a genus of small, wiry deep-sea tubeworms that depend on an endosymbiosis with chemosynthetic bacteria for their nutrition, notable for their ability to colonise a multitude of reducing environments. Since the early 2000s, a Sclerolinum population has been known to inhabit sediment-hosted hydrothermal vents within the Bransfield Strait, Southern Ocean, and whilst remaining undescribed, it has been suggested to play an important ecological role in this ecosystem. Here, we show that the Southern Ocean Sclerolinum population is not a new species, but more remarkably in fact belongs to the species S. contortum, first described from an Arctic mud volcano located nearly 16,000 km away.
Results:
Our new data coupled with existing genetic studies extend the range of this species across both polar oceans and the Gulf of Mexico. Our analyses show that the populations of this species are structured on a regional scale, with greater genetic differentiation occurring between rather than within populations. Further details of the external morphology and tube structure of S. contortum are revealed through confocal and SEM imaging, and the ecology of this worm is discussed.
Conclusions:
These results shed further insight into the plasticity and adaptability of this siboglinid group to a range of reducing conditions, and into the levels of gene flow that occur between populations of the same species over a global extent.
Siboglinidae, Polychaeta, Annelida, Antarctica, Gene flow, Deep-sea, Connectivity, Hydrothermal vent, Cold seep, Biogeography
280
Georgieva, Magdalena N.
130fcd1a-effb-4a57-86f8-ad00f8a7d889
Wiklund, Helena
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Bell, James B.
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Eilertsen, Mari H.
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Mills, Rachel A.
a664f299-1a34-4b63-9988-1e599b756706
Little, Crispin T.S.
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Glover, Adrian G.
91192a3a-fc25-4c1f-b062-2e4da183272e
2015
Georgieva, Magdalena N.
130fcd1a-effb-4a57-86f8-ad00f8a7d889
Wiklund, Helena
7c228af0-33a8-471f-b0f8-bc1e558cf8ed
Bell, James B.
74cdb23e-5474-431d-952c-96e87392987a
Eilertsen, Mari H.
f678e0b4-be1f-4830-9063-8267e3b75f8f
Mills, Rachel A.
a664f299-1a34-4b63-9988-1e599b756706
Little, Crispin T.S.
34fb970d-b495-4d6a-8e2e-5161319d4bdd
Glover, Adrian G.
91192a3a-fc25-4c1f-b062-2e4da183272e
Georgieva, Magdalena N., Wiklund, Helena, Bell, James B., Eilertsen, Mari H., Mills, Rachel A., Little, Crispin T.S. and Glover, Adrian G.
(2015)
A chemosynthetic weed: the tubeworm Sclerolinum contortum is a bipolar, cosmopolitan species.
BMC Evolutionary Biology, 15 (1), .
(doi:10.1186/s12862-015-0559-y).
Abstract
Background:
Sclerolinum (Annelida: Siboglinidae) is a genus of small, wiry deep-sea tubeworms that depend on an endosymbiosis with chemosynthetic bacteria for their nutrition, notable for their ability to colonise a multitude of reducing environments. Since the early 2000s, a Sclerolinum population has been known to inhabit sediment-hosted hydrothermal vents within the Bransfield Strait, Southern Ocean, and whilst remaining undescribed, it has been suggested to play an important ecological role in this ecosystem. Here, we show that the Southern Ocean Sclerolinum population is not a new species, but more remarkably in fact belongs to the species S. contortum, first described from an Arctic mud volcano located nearly 16,000 km away.
Results:
Our new data coupled with existing genetic studies extend the range of this species across both polar oceans and the Gulf of Mexico. Our analyses show that the populations of this species are structured on a regional scale, with greater genetic differentiation occurring between rather than within populations. Further details of the external morphology and tube structure of S. contortum are revealed through confocal and SEM imaging, and the ecology of this worm is discussed.
Conclusions:
These results shed further insight into the plasticity and adaptability of this siboglinid group to a range of reducing conditions, and into the levels of gene flow that occur between populations of the same species over a global extent.
Text
s12862-015-0559-y.pdf
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More information
Published date: 2015
Keywords:
Siboglinidae, Polychaeta, Annelida, Antarctica, Gene flow, Deep-sea, Connectivity, Hydrothermal vent, Cold seep, Biogeography
Organisations:
Geochemistry
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 388543
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/388543
ISSN: 1471-2148
PURE UUID: 36bbe3a9-c81a-4837-8f97-1c0f1fce93f0
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Date deposited: 29 Feb 2016 10:29
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 02:46
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Contributors
Author:
Magdalena N. Georgieva
Author:
Helena Wiklund
Author:
James B. Bell
Author:
Mari H. Eilertsen
Author:
Crispin T.S. Little
Author:
Adrian G. Glover
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