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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, January 2001, p. 110-117, Vol. 67, No. 1
0099-2240/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/AEM.67.1.110-117.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Characterization of a Novel Spirochete Associated with the Hydrothermal Vent Polychaete Annelid, Alvinella pompejana

Barbara J. Campbell and S. Craig Cary*

University of Delaware Graduate College of Marine Studies, Lewes, Delaware 19958

Received 3 July 2000/Accepted 15 September 2000

A highly integrated, morphologically diverse bacterial community is associated with the dorsal surface of Alvinella pompejana, a polychaetous annelid that inhabits active high-temperature deep-sea hydrothermal vent sites along the East Pacific Rise (EPR). Analysis of a previously prepared bacterial 16S ribosomal DNA (rDNA) library identified a spirochete most closely related to an endosymbiont of the oligochete Olavius loisae. This spirochete phylotype (spirochete A) comprised only 2.2% of the 16S rDNA clone library but appeared to be much more dominant when the same sample was analyzed by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) and the terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism procedure (12 to 18%). PCR amplification of the community with spirochete-specific primers used in conjunction with DGGE analysis identified two spirochete phylotypes. The first spirochete was identical to spirochete A but was present in only one A. pompejana specimen. The second spirochete (spirochete B) was 84.5% similar to spirochete A and, more interestingly, was present in the epibiont communities of all of the A. pompejana specimens sampled throughout the geographic range of the worm (13°N to 32°S along the EPR). The sequence variation of the spirochete B phylotype was less than 3% for the range of A. pompejana specimens tested, suggesting that a single spirochete species was present in the A. pompejana epibiotic community. Additional analysis of the environments surrounding the worm revealed that spirochetes are a ubiquitous component of high-temperature vents and may play an important role in this unique ecosystem.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: College of Marine Studies, University of Delaware, Cannon Laboratory, 700 Pilottown Road, Lewes, DE 19958. Phone: (302)645 4078. Fax: (302)645 4007. E-mail: Caryc{at}udel.edu.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, January 2001, p. 110-117, Vol. 67, No. 1
0099-2240/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/AEM.67.1.110-117.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


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