A novel three-part pharynx and its parallel evolution within symbiotic marine nematodes (Desmodoroidea, Stilbonematinae).

Stilbonematinae are nematodes commonly found in shallow marine sands. They are overgrown by a genus- and species-specific coat of chemoautotrophic sulphur-oxidizing ectosymbiotic bacteria which profit from the vertical migration of their hosts through the chemocline by alternately gaining access to oxidizing and reducing chemical species, while in return, the host feeds on its symbionts. The subfamily exhibits a large morphological variability; e.g. the anterior pharynx is cylindrical in genera possessing a voluminous coat, but species with a bacterial monolayer possess a distinctly swollen corpus and therefore a tripartite pharynx. Since 18S-based phylogenetic analyses do not show close relationships between corpus-bearing species, we investigated the pharynx morphology using phalloidin staining in combination with confocal laser scanning microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and light microscopy in order to assess an independent evolution. The class-wide stable position of the subventral pharynx ampullae was used as a morphological marker. Ampullae are positioned at the anterior-most end of the isthmus in Cyathorobbea, further posterior in Catanema and Robbea and inside the corpus in Laxus oneistus. We therefore conclude an independent evolution of corpus enlargements within Stilbonematinae. This further suggests that pharynx morphology is driven by the volume of the symbiotic bacterial coat rather than phylogeny. Based on an existing mathematical model, an enlarged corpus should enable its bearer to ingest food in smaller quantities, in gourmet style, whereas a cylindrical pharynx would restrict its bearer to ancestral gourmand feeding. A review of pharynx types of Nematoda showed that the Stilbonematinae pharynx is substantially different compared to other tripartite pharynges. The lack of pharyngeal tubes and valves, the undivided corpus and evenly distributed nuclei in the isthmus warrant the definition of the "stilbonematoid" three-part pharynx.

Closely coupled evolutionary history of ecto- and endosymbionts from two distantly related animal phyla.

The level of integration between associated partners can range from ectosymbioses to extracellular and intracellular endosymbioses, and this range has been assumed to reflect a continuum from less intimate to evolutionarily highly stable associations. In this study, we examined the specificity and evolutionary history of marine symbioses in a group of closely related sulphur-oxidizing bacteria, called Candidatus Thiosymbion, that have established ecto- and endosymbioses with two distantly related animal phyla, Nematoda and Annelida. Intriguingly, in the ectosymbiotic associations of stilbonematine nematodes, we observed a high degree of congruence between symbiont and host phylogenies, based on their ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes. In contrast, for the endosymbioses of gutless phallodriline annelids (oligochaetes), we found only a weak congruence between symbiont and host phylogenies, based on analyses of symbiont 16S rRNA genes and six host genetic markers. The much higher degree of congruence between nematodes and their ectosymbionts compared to those of annelids and their endosymbionts was confirmed by cophylogenetic analyses. These revealed 15 significant codivergence events between stilbonematine nematodes and their ectosymbionts, but only one event between gutless phallodrilines and their endosymbionts. Phylogenetic analyses of 16S rRNA gene sequences from 50 Cand. Thiosymbion species revealed seven well-supported clades that contained both stilbonematine ectosymbionts and phallodriline endosymbionts. This closely coupled evolutionary history of marine ecto- and endosymbionts suggests that switches between symbiotic lifestyles and between the two host phyla occurred multiple times during the evolution of the Cand. Thiosymbion clade, and highlights the remarkable flexibility of these symbiotic bacteria.

Paracatenula, an ancient symbiosis between thiotrophic Alphaproteobacteria and catenulid flatworms.

Harnessing chemosynthetic symbionts is a recurring evolutionary strategy. Eukaryotes from six phyla as well as one archaeon have acquired chemoautotrophic sulfur-oxidizing bacteria. In contrast to this broad host diversity, known bacterial partners apparently belong to two classes of bacteria--the Gamma- and Epsilonproteobacteria. Here, we characterize the intracellular endosymbionts of the mouthless catenulid flatworm genus Paracatenula as chemoautotrophic sulfur-oxidizing Alphaproteobacteria. The symbionts of Paracatenula galateia are provisionally classified as "Candidatus Riegeria galateiae" based on 16S ribosomal RNA sequencing confirmed by fluorescence in situ hybridization together with functional gene and sulfur metabolite evidence. 16S rRNA gene phylogenetic analysis shows that all 16 Paracatenula species examined harbor host species-specific intracellular Candidatus Riegeria bacteria that form a monophyletic group within the order Rhodospirillales. Comparing host and symbiont phylogenies reveals strict cocladogenesis and points to vertical transmission of the symbionts. Between 33% and 50% of the body volume of the various worm species is composed of bacterial symbionts, by far the highest proportion among all known endosymbiotic associations between bacteria and metazoans. This symbiosis, which likely originated more than 500 Mya during the early evolution of flatworms, is the oldest known animal-chemoautotrophic bacteria association. The distant phylogenetic position of the symbionts compared with other mutualistic or parasitic Alphaproteobacteria promises to illuminate the common genetic predispositions that have allowed several members of this class to successfully colonize eukaryote cells.

Proliferation pattern during rostrum regeneration of the symbiotic flatworm Paracatenula galateia: a pulse-chase-pulse analysis.

The remarkable totipotent stem-cell-based regeneration capacities of the Platyhelminthes have brought them into the focus of stem cell and regeneration research. Although selected platyhelminth groups are among the best-studied invertebrates, our data provide new insights into regenerative processes in the most basally branching group of the Platyhelminthes, the Catenulida. The mouth- and gutless free-living catenulid flatworm Paracatenula galateia harbors intracellular bacterial symbionts in its posterior body region, the trophosome region, accounting for up to 50% of the volume. Following decapitation of this flatworm, we have analyzed the behavior of the amputated fragments and any anterior and posterior regeneration. Using an EdU-pulse-chase/BrdU-pulse thymidine analog double-labeling approach combined with immunohistochemistry, we show that neoblasts are the main drivers of the regeneration processes. During anterior (rostrum) regeneration, EdU-pulse-chase-labeled cells aggregate inside the regenerating rostrum, whereas BrdU pulse-labeling before fixation indicates clusters of S-phase neoblasts at the same position. In parallel, serotonergic nerves reorganize and the brain regenerates. In completely regenerated animals, the original condition with S-phase neoblasts being restricted to the body region posterior to the brain is restored. In contrast, no posterior regeneration or growth of the trophosome region in anterior fragments cut a short distance posterior to the brain has been observed. Our data thus reveal interesting aspects of the cellular processes underlying the regeneration of the emerging catenulid-bacteria symbiosis model P. galateia and show that a neoblast stem cell system is indeed a plesiomorphic feature of basal platyhelminths.

FtsZ-mediated fission of a cuboid bacterial symbiont.

Less than a handful of cuboid and squared cells have been described in nature, which makes them a rarity. Here, we show how Candidatus Thiosymbion cuboideus, a cube-like gammaproteobacterium, reproduces on the surface of marine free-living nematodes. Immunostaining of symbiont cells with an anti-fimbriae antibody revealed that they are host-polarized, as these appendages exclusively localized at the host-proximal (animal-attached) pole. Moreover, by applying a fluorescently labeled metabolic probe to track new cell wall insertion in vivo, we observed that the host-attached pole started septation before the distal one. Similarly, Ca. T. cuboideus cells immunostained with an anti-FtsZ antibody revealed a proximal-to-distal localization pattern of this tubulin homolog. Although FtsZ has been shown to arrange into squares in synthetically remodeled cuboid cells, here we show that FtsZ may also mediate the division of naturally occurring ones. This implies that, even in natural settings, membrane roundness is not required for FtsZ function.

emEubostrichopsis/em emjohnpearsei/em n. gen., n. sp., the first stilbonematid nematode (Nematoda, Desmodoridae) from the US West Coast.

A new genus of the marine Stilbonematinae (Nematoda, Desmodoridae) is described from the Pacific coast of the United States of America. The worms inhabit the sulfidic sediment among the roots of the surfgrass Phyllospadix sp. in the rocky intertidal. The ectosymbiotic coat is of a new type for Stilbonematinae. It consists of rod-shaped bacteria pointed at both poles densely attached with one pole to the host cuticle. This is the first report of this symbiotic nematode subfamily from the US West Coast.

Morphology of obligate ectosymbionts reveals Paralaxus gen. nov.: A new circumtropical genus of marine stilbonematine nematodes.

Stilbonematinae are a subfamily of conspicuous marine nematodes, distinguished by a coat of sulphur-oxidizing bacterial ectosymbionts on their cuticle. As most nematodes, the worm hosts have a relatively simple anatomy and few taxonomically informative characters, and this has resulted in numerous taxonomic reassignments and synonymizations. Recent studies using a combination of morphological and molecular traits have helped to improve the taxonomy of Stilbonematinae but also raised questions on the validity of several genera. Here, we describe a new circumtropically distributed genus Paralaxus (Stilbonematinae) with three species: Paralaxus cocos sp. nov., P. bermudensis sp. nov. and P. columbae sp. nov. We used single worm metagenomes to generate host 18S rRNA and cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) as well as symbiont 16S rRNA gene sequences. Intriguingly, COI alignments and primer matching analyses suggest that the COI is not suitable for PCR-based barcoding approaches in Stilbonematinae as the genera have a highly diverse base composition and no conserved primer sites. The phylogenetic analyses of all three gene sets, however, confirm the morphological assignments and support the erection of the new genus Paralaxus as well as corroborate the status of the other stilbonematine genera. Paralaxus most closely resembles the stilbonematine genus Laxus in overlapping sets of diagnostic features but can be distinguished from Laxus by the morphology of the genus-specific symbiont coat. Our re-analyses of key parameters of the symbiont coat morphology as character for all Stilbonematinae genera show that with amended descriptions, including the coat, highly reliable genus assignments can be obtained.

Reverse dissimilatory sulfite reductase as phylogenetic marker for a subgroup of sulfur-oxidizing prokaryotes.

Sulfur-oxidizing prokaryotes (SOP) catalyse a central step in the global S-cycle and are of major functional importance for a variety of natural and engineered systems, but our knowledge on their actual diversity and environmental distribution patterns is still rather limited. In this study we developed a specific PCR assay for the detection of dsrAB that encode the reversely operating sirohaem dissimilatory sulfite reductase (rDSR) and are present in many but not all published genomes of SOP. The PCR assay was used to screen 42 strains of SOP (most without published genome sequence) representing the recognized diversity of this guild. For 13 of these strains dsrAB was detected and the respective PCR product was sequenced. Interestingly, most dsrAB-encoding SOP are capable of forming sulfur storage compounds. Phylogenetic analysis demonstrated largely congruent rDSR and 16S rRNA consensus tree topologies, indicating that lateral transfer events did not play an important role in the evolutionary history of known rDSR. Thus, this enzyme represents a suitable phylogenetic marker for diversity analyses of sulfur storage compound-exploiting SOP in the environment. The potential of this new functional gene approach was demonstrated by comparative sequence analyses of all dsrAB present in published metagenomes and by applying it for a SOP census in selected marine worms and an alkaline lake sediment.

Thiotrophic bacterial symbiont induces polyphenism in giant ciliate host Zoothamnium niveum.

Evolutionary theory predicts potential shifts between cooperative and uncooperative behaviour under fluctuating environmental conditions. This leads to unstable benefits to the partners and restricts the evolution of dependence. High dependence is usually found in those hosts in which vertically transmitted symbionts provide nutrients reliably. Here we study host dependence in the marine, giant colonial ciliate Zoothamnium niveum and its vertically transmitted, nutritional, thiotrophic symbiont from an unstable environment of degrading wood. Previously, we have shown that sulphidic conditions lead to high host fitness and oxic conditions to low fitness, but the fate of the symbiont has not been studied. We combine several experimental approaches to provide evidence for a sulphide-tolerant host with striking polyphenism involving two discrete morphs, a symbiotic and an aposymbiotic one. The two differ significantly in colony growth form and fitness. This polyphenism is triggered by chemical conditions and elicited by the symbiont's presence on the dispersing swarmer. We provide evidence of a single aposymbiotic morph found in nature. We propose that despite a high fitness loss when aposymbiotic, the ciliate has retained a facultative life style and may use the option to live without its symbiont to overcome spatial and temporal shortage of sulphide in nature.

Diving down the reefs? Intensive diving tourism threatens the reefs of the northern Red Sea.

Intensive recreational SCUBA diving threatens coral reef ecosystems. The reefs at Dahab, South Sinai, Egypt, are among the world's most dived (>30,000 dives y(-1)). We compared frequently dived sites to sites with no or little diving. Benthic communities and condition of corals were examined by the point intercept sampling method in the reef crest zone (3m) and reef slope zone (12 m). Additionally, the abundance of corallivorous and herbivorous fish was estimated based on the visual census method. Sediments traps recorded the sedimentation rates caused by SCUBA divers. Zones subject to intensive SCUBA diving showed a significantly higher number of broken and damaged corals and significantly lower coral cover. Reef crest coral communities were significantly more affected than those of the reef slope: 95% of the broken colonies were branching ones. No effect of diving on the abundance of corallivorous and herbivorous fish was evident. At heavily used dive sites, diver-related sedimentation rates significantly decreased with increasing distance from the entrance, indicating poor buoyancy regulation at the initial phase of the dive. The results show a high negative impact of current SCUBA diving intensities on coral communities and coral condition. Corallivorous and herbivorous fishes are apparently not yet affected, but are endangered if coral cover decline continues. Reducing the number of dives per year, ecologically sustainable dive plans for individual sites, and reinforcing the environmental education of both dive guides and recreational divers are essential to conserve the ecological and the aesthetic qualities of these dive sites.

Phylogenetic confirmation of the genus Robbea (Nematoda: Desmodoridae, Stilbonematinae) with the description of three new species.

The Stilbonematinae are a monophyletic group of marine nematodes that are characterized by a coat of thiotrophic bacterial symbionts. Among the ten known genera of the Stilbonematinae, the genus Robbea Gerlach 1956 had a problematic taxonomic history of synonymizations and indications of polyphyletic origin. Here we describe three new species of the genus, R. hypermnestra sp. nov., R. ruetzleri sp. nov. and R. agricola sp. nov., using conventional light microscopy, interference contrast microscopy and SEM. We provide 18S rRNA gene sequences of all three species, together with new sequences for the genera Catanema and Leptonemella. Both our morphological analyses as well as our phylogenetic reconstructions corroborate the genus Robbea. In our phylogenetic analysis the three species of the genus Robbea form a distinct clade in the Stilbonematinae radiation and are clearly separated from the clade of the genus Catanema, which has previously been synonymized with Robbea. Surprisingly, in R. hypermnestra sp. nov. all females are intersexes exhibiting male sexual characters. Our extended dataset of Stilbonematinae 18S rRNA genes for the first time allows the identification of the different genera, e.g. in a barcoding approach. http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:D37C3F5A-CF2B-40E6-8B09-3C72EEED60B0.

Size-independent symmetric division in extraordinarily long cells.

Two long-standing paradigms in biology are that cells belonging to the same population exhibit little deviation from their average size and that symmetric cell division is size limited. Here, ultrastructural, morphometric and immunocytochemical analyses reveal that two Gammaproteobacteria attached to the cuticle of the marine nematodes Eubostrichus fertilis and E. dianeae reproduce by constricting a single FtsZ ring at midcell despite being 45 µm and 120 µm long, respectively. In the crescent-shaped bacteria coating E. fertilis, symmetric FtsZ-based fission occurs in cells with lengths spanning one order of magnitude. In the E. dianeae symbiont, formation of a single functional FtsZ ring makes this the longest unicellular organism in which symmetric division has ever been observed. In conclusion, the reproduction modes of two extraordinarily long bacterial cells indicate that size is not the primary trigger of division and that yet unknown mechanisms time the localization of both DNA and the septum.

Bacterial symbiosis maintenance in the asexually reproducing and regenerating flatworm Paracatenula galateia.

Bacteriocytes set the stage for some of the most intimate interactions between animal and bacterial cells. In all bacteriocyte possessing systems studied so far, de novo formation of bacteriocytes occurs only once in the host development, at the time of symbiosis establishment. Here, we present the free-living symbiotic flatworm Paracatenula galateia and its intracellular, sulfur-oxidizing bacteria as a system with previously undescribed strategies of bacteriocyte formation and bacterial symbiont transmission. Using thymidine analogue S-phase labeling and immunohistochemistry, we show that all somatic cells in adult worms - including bacteriocytes - originate exclusively from aposymbiotic stem cells (neoblasts). The continued bacteriocyte formation from aposymbiotic stem cells in adult animals represents a previously undescribed strategy of symbiosis maintenance and makes P. galateia a unique system to study bacteriocyte differentiation and development. We also provide morphological and immunohistochemical evidence that P. galateia reproduces by asexual fragmentation and regeneration (paratomy) and, thereby, vertically transmits numerous symbiont-containing bacteriocytes to its asexual progeny. Our data support the earlier reported hypothesis that the symbiont population is subjected to reduced bottleneck effects. This would justify both the codiversification between Paracatenula hosts and their Candidatus Riegeria symbionts, and the slow evolutionary rates observed for several symbiont genes.

Microanatomy of the trophosome region of Paracatenula cf. polyhymnia (Catenulida, Platyhelminthes) and its intracellular symbionts.

Marine catenulid platyhelminths of the genus Paracatenula lack mouth, pharynx and gut. They live in a symbiosis with intracellular bacteria which are restricted to the body region posterior to the brain. The symbiont-housing cells (bacteriocytes) collectively form the trophosome tissue, which functionally replaces the digestive tract. It constitutes the largest part of the body and is the most important synapomorphy of this group. While some other features of the Paracatenula anatomy have already been analyzed, an in-depth analysis of the trophosome region was missing. Here, we identify and characterize the composition of the trophosome and its surrounding tissue by analyzing series of ultra-thin cross-sections of the species Paracatenula cf. polyhymnia. For the first time, a protonephridium is detected in a Paracatenula species, but it is morphologically reduced and most likely not functional. Cells containing needle-like inclusions in the reference species Paracatenula polyhymnia Sterrer and Rieger, 1974 were thought to be sperm, and the inclusions interpreted as the sperm nucleus. Our analysis of similar cells and their inclusions by EDX and Raman microspectroscopy documents an inorganic spicule consisting of a unique magnesium-phosphate compound. Furthermore, we identify the neoblast stem cells located underneath the epidermis. Except for the modifications due to the symbiotic lifestyle and the enigmatic spicule cells, the organization of Paracatenula cf. polyhymnia conforms to that of the Catenulida in all studied aspects. Therefore, this species represents an excellent model system for further studies of host adaptation to an obligate symbiotic lifestyle. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00435-011-0135-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

A new C-type lectin similar to the human immunoreceptor DC-SIGN mediates symbiont acquisition by a marine nematode.

Although thiotrophic symbioses have been intensively studied for the last three decades, nothing is known about the molecular mechanisms of symbiont acquisition. We used the symbiosis between the marine nematode Laxus oneistus and sulfur-oxidizing bacteria to study this process. In this association a monolayer of symbionts covers the whole cuticle of the nematode, except its anterior-most region. Here, we identify a novel Ca(2+)-dependent mannose-specific lectin that was exclusively secreted onto the posterior, bacterium-associated region of L. oneistus cuticle. A recombinant form of this lectin induced symbiont aggregation in seawater and was able to compete with the native lectin for symbiont binding in vivo. Surprisingly, the carbohydrate recognition domain of this mannose-binding protein was similar both structurally and functionally to a human dendritic cell-specific immunoreceptor. Our results provide a molecular link between bacterial symbionts and host-secreted mucus in a marine symbiosis and suggest conservation in the mechanisms of host-microbe interactions throughout the animal kingdom.

"Candidatus Thiobios zoothamnicoli," an ectosymbiotic bacterium covering the giant marine ciliate Zoothamnium niveum.

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 shallow-water 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.