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Symbiotic bacteria in the nudibranch mollusk Dendrodoris nigra: fatty acid composition and ultrastructure analysis

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Abstract

In the present study, the hypothesis that marine nudibranch mollusks harbor symbiotic bacteria was tested using analyses of fatty acids as biochemical markers and transmission electron microscopy of the tissues of Dendrodoris nigra (Gastropoda/Opisthobranchia/Nudibranchia). An aberrant level of the odd-numbered carbon chain and branched fatty acids, iso- and anteiso- that are specific for bacteria, was detected in the nudibranch tissues. Their amounts in the notum exceeded significantly that in the viscera. Rod-shaped gram-negative bacteria were revealed in the epithelial cells of the notum and the mantle edge as well as in the adjoining glycocalix. These bacteria were enclosed in secondary vacuoles in the epithelial cells. The consequent stages of inoculation of the bacteria into the cytoplasm of epithelial cells, from adhesion to the apical surface to invagination of the cell membrane and formation of the vacuole with an enclosed bacterium, were observed. The presence of dividing bacteria suggests that the epithelium includes a renewable, dividing population of symbiotic bacteria. No bacteria were detected in the gonads and the digestive system. Probable functions of these symbiotic bacteria such as involvement in protection or defense from predators and environmental impacts as well as their nutritional role in the nudibranch are discussed.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank A.V. Chernyshev for the identification of the species and four anonymous reviewers for comments. This research was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (grant 11_04-98507-p_vostok_a) and the Government of the Russian Federation (grant 11.G34.31.0010) to N.V. Zhukova.

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  1. Institute of Marine Biology, Far East Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Palchevskogo 17, Vladivostok, 690059, Russia

    Natalia V. Zhukova & Marina G. Eliseikina

  2. Far Eastern Federal University, Vladivostok, Russia

    Natalia V. Zhukova

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  1. Natalia V. Zhukova
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  2. Marina G. Eliseikina
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Correspondence to Natalia V. Zhukova.

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Communicated by J. P. Grassle.

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Zhukova, N.V., Eliseikina, M.G. Symbiotic bacteria in the nudibranch mollusk Dendrodoris nigra: fatty acid composition and ultrastructure analysis. Mar Biol 159, 1783–1794 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-012-1969-7

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