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Appl Environ Microbiol, January 1998, p. 370-375, Vol. 64, No. 1
0099-2240/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Stable-Carbon-Isotope Composition of Fatty Acids in Hydrothermal Vent Mussels Containing Methanotrophic and Thiotrophic Bacterial Endosymbionts

David W. Pond,^1,2,* Michael V. Bell,¹ David R. Dixon,² Anthony E. Fallick,³ Michel Segonzac,⁴ and John R. Sargent¹

NERC Unit of Aquatic Biochemistry, Department of Biological and Molecular Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling FK9 4LA,¹ Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Plymouth PL1 3DH,² and Isotope Geosciences Unit, SURRC, East Kilbride, Glasgow G75 OQF,³ United Kingdom, and IFREMER, F-29280 Plouzané, Brest, France⁴

Received 26 August 1997/Accepted 31 October 1997

Fatty acid biomarker analysis coupled with gas chromatography-isotope ratio mass spectrometry was used to confirm the presence of methanotrophic and thiotrophic bacterial endosymbionts in the tissues of a hydrothermal vent mussel (Bathymodiolus sp.), collected from the Menez Gwen vent field on the mid-Atlantic ridge. Monounsaturated (n-8) fatty acids, which are diagnostic of methanotrophic bacteria, were detected in all three types of tissues examined (gill, posterior adductor, and mantle), although levels were highest in gill tissues where the bacteria were found. Stable-carbon-isotope compositions (-¹³C per mille relative to that of Peedee belemnite) of fatty acids for all three tissues ranged from 24.9 to 34.9, which encompasses the range predicted for both thiotroph- and methanotroph-based nutrition. The data suggest that these thio- and methanotrophic bacterial endosymbionts are equally important in the nutrition of the vent mussel at this particular vent site.

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^* Corresponding author. Mailing address: NERC Unit of Aquatic Biochemistry, Department of Biological and Molecular Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling FK9 4LA, United Kingdom. Phone: 44 1786 473171. Fax: 44 1786 464994. E-mail: dwp1{at}stirling.ac.uk.

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