Meeting Abstract

54.10  Tuesday, Jan. 6  From metabolite flux to gene expression and proteomics: insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying primary productivity in hydrothermal vent tubeworms GIRGUIS, PR*; NYHOLM, SV; ROBIDART, JA; GIRGUIS, ; GIRGUIS, ; GIRGUIS, ; GIRGUIS, ; GIRGUIS, ; GIRGUIS, ; GIRGUIS, ; GIRGUIS, ; GIRGUIS, ; Harvard University; University of Connecticut; Harvard University pgirguis@oeb.harvard.edu

Deep-sea hydrothermal vents host highly productive ecosystems. Many of these communities are dominated by vestimentiferan tubeworms, which house endosymbiotic chemoautotrophic bacteria that provide the hosts with their primary nutritional needs. Carbon fixation rates by these symbioses are also among the highest recorded. Despite the breadth of physiological and biochemical research on these associations, the underlying molecular mechanisms that regulate host and symbiont metabolite flux, and carbon fixation are largely unknown. Here we present metabolite flux, transcriptomics and proteomics data from shipboard high-pressure respirometry experiments, in which we maintained Ridgeia piscesae and Riftia pachyptila tubeworms at conditions comparable to those in situ. Our transcriptomic proteomic libraries have extremely high representation of genes and proteins involved in cellular processing and cell-cell signal transduction, as well as high representation of genes involved in metabolite exchange and acid-base regulation. These data represent the first concomitant metabolite flux rates and gene/protein expression studies of a chemoautotrophic symbiosis during net autotrophy. Together they allow us to develop a robust model of vestimentiferan tubeworm host and symbiont metabolism and growth, which suggests that cell cycle regulation may play a significant role in maintaining physiological poise during high productivity.