Symbiosis insights through metagenomic analysis of a microbial consortium

Tanja Woyke, Hanno Teeling, Natalia N. Ivanova, Marcel Huntemann, Michael Richter, Frank Oliver Gloeckner, Dario Boffelli, Iain J. Anderson, Kerrie W. Barry, Harris J. Shapiro, Ernest Szeto, Nikos C. Kyrpides, Marc Mussmann, Rudolf Amann, Claudia Bergin, Caroline Ruehland, Edward M. Rubin () and Nicole Dubilier ()
Additional contact information
Tanja Woyke: DOE Joint Genome Institute
Hanno Teeling: Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology
Natalia N. Ivanova: DOE Joint Genome Institute
Marcel Huntemann: Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology
Michael Richter: Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology
Frank Oliver Gloeckner: Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology
Dario Boffelli: DOE Joint Genome Institute
Iain J. Anderson: DOE Joint Genome Institute
Kerrie W. Barry: DOE Joint Genome Institute
Harris J. Shapiro: DOE Joint Genome Institute
Ernest Szeto: DOE Joint Genome Institute
Nikos C. Kyrpides: DOE Joint Genome Institute
Marc Mussmann: Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology
Rudolf Amann: Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology
Claudia Bergin: Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology
Caroline Ruehland: Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology
Edward M. Rubin: DOE Joint Genome Institute
Nicole Dubilier: Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology

Nature, 2006, vol. 443, issue 7114, 950-955

Abstract: Abstract Symbioses between bacteria and eukaryotes are ubiquitous, yet our understanding of the interactions driving these associations is hampered by our inability to cultivate most host-associated microbes. Here we use a metagenomic approach to describe four co-occurring symbionts from the marine oligochaete Olavius algarvensis, a worm lacking a mouth, gut and nephridia. Shotgun sequencing and metabolic pathway reconstruction revealed that the symbionts are sulphur-oxidizing and sulphate-reducing bacteria, all of which are capable of carbon fixation, thus providing the host with multiple sources of nutrition. Molecular evidence for the uptake and recycling of worm waste products by the symbionts suggests how the worm could eliminate its excretory system, an adaptation unique among annelid worms. We propose a model that describes how the versatile metabolism within this symbiotic consortium provides the host with an optimal energy supply as it shuttles between the upper oxic and lower anoxic coastal sediments that it inhabits.

Date: 2006
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DOI: 10.1038/nature05192

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