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Pathways of inorganic carbon fixation in the endosymbiont‐bearing lucinid clam Lucinoma aequizonata . Part 1. Purification and characterization of the endosymbiotic bacteria

1988; Wiley; Volume: 247; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1002/jez.1402470102

1097-010X

Daniel L. Distel, Horst Felbeck,

Ocean Acidification Effects and Responses

Abstract Two simple techniques by which the sulfur‐oxidizing endosymbiotic bacteria may be purified from the bacteriocyte tissues of the marine bivalve Lucinoma aequizonata , are described. Tissue homogenates are prepared from symbiont‐containing tissues, and symbionts are recovered by centrifugation through gradients of Percoll density gradient medium. The high density of the endosymbionts (probably because of the presence of numerous sulfur deposits within the cells) allows clean, rapid, and efficient separation of these cells from host cells and cell constituents. Light and electron microscopy and enzymatic and biochemical techniques are used to demonstrate the identity, quality, and purity of the symbiont isolates from this lucinid clam. The techniques described here for L. aequizonata , have also been used successfully to purify sulfur‐oxidizing endosymbionts from a variety of marine invertebrates, including the bivalves L. annulata, Lucina floridana, Calyptogena magnifica , and Codakia orbicularis , and from the vestimentiferan tubeworms Riftia pachyptila , and Tevnia jerichonana . Such preparations should prove useful for investigating these and similar sulfur‐oxidizing symbioses.