Background: There is a general lack of information on the dispersal and genetic structuring for populations of small-sized deep-water taxa, including free-living nematodes which inhabit and dominate the seafloor sediments. This is also true for unique and scattered deep-sea habitats such as cold seeps. Given the limited dispersal capacity of marine nematodes, genetic differentiation between such geographically isolated habitat patches is expected to be high. Against this background, we examined genetic variation in both mitochondrial (COI) and nuclear (18S and 28S ribosomal) DNA markers of 333 individuals of the genus Sabatieria, abundantly present in reduced cold-seep sediments. Samples originated from four Eastern Mediterranean cold seeps, separated by hundreds of kilometers, and one seep in the Southeast Atlantic.
Results: Individuals from the Mediterranean and Atlantic were divided into two separate but closely-related species clades. Within the Eastern Mediterranean, all specimens belonged to a single species, but with a strong population genetic structure (Φ = 0.149). The haplotype network of COI contained 19 haplotypes with the most abundant haplotype (52% of the specimens) shared between all four seeps. The number of private haplotypes was high (15), but the number of mutations between haplotypes was low (1-8). These results indicate intermediary gene flow among the Mediterranean Sabatieria populations with no evidence of long-term barriers to gene flow.
Conclusions: The presence of shared haplotypes and multiple admixture events indicate that Sabatieria populations from disjunct cold seeps are not completely isolated, with gene flow most likely facilitated through water current transportation of individuals and/or eggs. Genetic structure and molecular diversity indices are comparable to those of epiphytic shallow-water marine nematodes, while no evidence of sympatric cryptic species was found for the cold-seep Sabatieria.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
|---|---|
| http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5494145 | PMC |
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12862-017-1003-2 | DOI Listing |
Publication Analysis
Top Keywords
Similar Publications
Microbial Communities in and Around the Siboglinid Tubeworms from the South Yungan East Ridge Cold Seep Offshore Southwestern Taiwan at the Northern South China Sea.
Microorganisms
November 2024
School of Resources and Chemical Engineering, Sanming University, Sanming 365004, China.
To date, only a few microbial community studies of cold seeps at the South China Sea (SCS) have been reported. The cold seep dominated by tubeworms was discovered at South Yungan East Ridge (SYER) offshore southwestern Taiwan by miniROV. The tubeworms were identified and proposed as sp.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEffects of Different Types of Microplastics on Cold Seep Microbial Diversity and Function.
Environ Sci Technol
January 2025
Guangdong Basic Research Center of Excellence for Ecological Security and Green Development, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China.
The massive production and widespread use of plastics have resulted in a growing marine plastic pollution problem. Cold seep ecosystems are maintained by microorganisms related to nitrogen and carbon cycling that occur in deep-sea areas, where cold hydrocarbon-rich water seeps from the ocean floor. Little is known about plastic pollution in this ecosystem.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAll roads lead to Rome: multiple trajectories of faunal succession in deep-sea cold seeps.
Sci Bull (Beijing)
December 2024
CAS Key Laboratory of Tropical Marine Bio-resources and Ecology, CAS Key Laboratory of Ocean and Marginal Sea Geology, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510301, China; Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou), Guangzhou 511458, China. Electronic address:
Phenotypic plasticity of symbiotic organ highlight deep-sea mussel as model species in monitoring fluid extinction of deep-sea methane hydrate.
Sci Total Environ
December 2024
Center of Deep Sea Research, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao 266071, China; CAS Key Laboratory of Marine Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao 266071, China; South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510301, China; Laoshan Laboratory, Qingdao 266071, China. Electronic address:
Methane hydrates stored in cold seeps are an important source of energy and carbon for both the endemic chemosynthetic community and humanity. However, the methane fluids may cease and even stop naturally or anthropogenically, calling for a thorough evaluation of its potential impact on the endemic species and local chemosynthetic ecosystems. As one dominant megafauna in cold seeps, some of the deep-sea mussels rely on methanotrophic endosymbionts for nutrition and therefore could serve as a promising model in monitoring the dynamic changes of methane hydrate.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSpecificity of benthic invertebrate gill-associated microbiome contributes to host fitness to localized heterogeneous environment in the cold seep.
Sci Total Environ
December 2024
CAS Key Laboratory of Tropical Marine Bio-resources and Ecology, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510301, China. Electronic address:
The deep hydrocarbon fluids discharged into the water column at cold seeps create diverse and heterogeneous habitats on the seafloor. Symbiosis is essential for the survival of marine life in extreme deep-sea environments. Although the symbiotic relationship between chemoautotrophic bacteria and invertebrates has been reported, our understanding of these host-microbe interactions under heterogeneous environment remains limited.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWant AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?
Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!