Effect of cadmium, copper and mercury on antioxidant enzyme activities and lipid peroxidation in the gills of the hydrothermal vent mussel Bathymodiolus azoricus.

Metals are known to influence lipid peroxidation and oxidative status of marine organisms. Hydrothermal vent mussels Bathymodiolus azoricus live in deep-sea environments with anomalous conditions, including high metal concentrations. Although B. azoricus are aerobic organisms they possess abundant methano and thioautotrophic symbiotic bacteria in the gills. The enzymatic defences (superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), total glutathione peroxidase (Total GPx) and selenium-dependent glutathione peroxidase (Se-GPx)) and lipid peroxidation were determined in the gills of B. azoricus exposed to Cd (0.9 microM), Cu (0.4 microM) and Hg (0.1 microM) with different times of exposure. The experiments were performed in pressurized containers at 9+/-1 degrees C and 85 bars. Results show that vent mussels possess antioxidant enzymatic protection in the gills. Cd and Cu had an inhibitory effect in the enzymatic defence system, contrarily to Hg. These enzymatic systems are not completely understood in the B. azoricus, since reactive oxygen species might be produced through other processes than natural redox cycling, due to hydrogen sulphide and oxygen content present. Also the symbiotic bacteria may play an important contribution in the antioxidant protection of the gills.

High amounts of sulphur-amino acids in three symbiotic mytilid bivalves from deep benthic communities.

Three sulphur-amino acids, taurine, hypotaurine and thiotaurine, are shown to exist in deep-sea symbiotic mussels. Their relative and absolute importance differs in the three species of mussels studied and seems to be related to the metabolism of the symbionts. Thiotaurine only occurs in high concentration in thiotrophic species, whereas hypotaurine and taurine are found in all the species studied. Differences in sulphur-amino acid composition may also depend on the physiological condition of the organism or on environmental features. These compounds were previously found in Riftia pachyptila, Calyptogena phaseoliformis and in two hydrothermal vent mussels from the western Pacific. Given their abundance, they may play an essential role in these symbioses.

The ruminant digestion model using bacteria already employed early in evolution by symbiotic molluscs.

The purification and some molecular properties of six lysozymes from the gills of different mytilids and vesicomyids are described: they belong to the previously described Invertebrate lysozyme family. The predominance of the bacterial nutrition in these organisms seems to necessitate the presence of a lysozyme as in the case of the ruminant digestion model.

[Free diaminopimelic acid of symbiotic bivalves]. / Acide diaminopimélique libre des bivalves symbiotiques.

Free amino acids were analyzed in tissues of symbiotic bivalves from hydrothermal vent sites at Galapagos rift, and cold-seeps in Japan trench and Barbados subduction area. Diaminopimelic acid (a fragment of the bacterial cell wall mureid complex) is, in some cases, one of the most abundant compounds. It's presence in the tissues of the bivalves is related to exchanges between host and symbionts. Diaminopimelate concentration differences among species may correspond to both taxonomic bacterial differences and different carbon translocation processes from bacteria to host. Variation among individuals may correspond to fluctuation of micro-environmental conditions.

Fatty acid composition in deep hydrothermal vent symbiotic bivalves.

Fatty acids in deep hydrothermal vent bivalves have been analyzed. Their composition is completely different from that of a littoral mussel collected in the Mediterranean sea. The distribution of fatty acids in the littoral mussel is characterized by a predominance of polyunsaturated fatty acids (20:5n-3, 22:6n-3) reflecting the planktonic origin of the food. Vent bivalve fatty acid distribution is dominated by an abundance of the monounsaturated acids (double bond in the n-7 position) 16:1n-7, 18:1n-7, and 20:1n-7 which are clearly of bacterial origin and give an indication of the symbiotic bacterial activity in the bivalves. Differences between the fatty acid composition of the bivalves from two hydrothermal sites (13 degrees N and Galapagos) and differences between the mantle and the gill were observed and are discussed with respect to vent activities at the two sites and species metabolic capacities as a function of ecological conditions.

Ultrastructure of the branchial wall of a lower chordate: The ascidian Ciona intestinalis.

Transmission electron micrographs show the branchial epithelium of the ascidian Ciona intestinalis to be composed of three kinds of cells: ciliated, parietal, and "dark." Absorptive processes of phagocytosis appear in ciliated and parietal cells; moreover, apocrine-like secretion is evident exclusively in the parietal cells. Finally, the occurrence of secretory cells in the branchial epithelium suggests a digestive role of the ascidian branchial sac.

[Enzyme activities in the gills of benthic filter feeders (ascidia)]. / Mise en évidence d'activités enzymatiques dans la branchie de filtreurs benthiques (Ascidies)

The gill of Ciona intestinalis, Phallusia mammillata, Styela plicata and Microcosmus sabatieri is the seat of enzymatic activities. alpha-amylases as well as proteases secreted into the mucus might start the digestion of the filtered organic particles. As for the proteasic activity, only a chymotrypsine-like enzyme could be detected and localized.