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Updated: Jun 3, 2026

An Aquatic Microbial Metaproteomics Workflow: From Cells to Tryptic Peptides Suitable for Tandem Mass Spectrometry-based Analysis
Published on: September 15, 2015
First detection of thiotrophic symbiont phylotypes in the pelagic marine environment
Niels R Heindl1, Harald R Gruber-Vodicka, Christoph Bayer
1Department of Genetics in Ecology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
Abstract:
Marine oligochaete and nematode thiotrophic symbionts (MONTS) form a phylogenetic cluster within the Gammaproteobacteria. For the symbionts that live on the nematode surface, environmental transmission is likely. However, until now, no free-living relatives have been found. In this study, we detected MONTS cluster members in offshore surface seawater of both the Caribbean and the Mediterranean Sea by PCR amplification of their 16S rRNA genes. This is the first evidence of members of this cluster in the pelagic environment. These may either be free-living forms of the symbionts or closely related, nonsymbiotic strains. In either case, their existence sheds light on the evolution of beneficial symbioses between shallow water invertebrates and sulfur-oxidizing bacteria.
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