Researchers Find Novel Symbiotic Structure in Deep-Sea Mollusc
Researchers have discovered a unique organelle in a deep-sea mollusc that facilitates bacterial symbiosis in oxygen-poor environments. This finding provides new insights into how marine life adapts to extreme conditions at cold seeps.
Why it matters
Understanding these biological adaptations helps scientists map deep-sea ecosystems and the evolution of complex life in extreme environments.
Researchers at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) have discovered a previously unknown specialized organelle structure in a deep-sea mollusc living at cold seeps in the South China Sea. Dedicated to maintaining bacterial symbiosis, this newly identified survival mechanism provides new insights into how deep-sea organisms adapt to nearly oxygen-free environments and opens new directions for research on chemosymbiosis, organelle evolution, and deep-sea ecosystems.
The study was led by Prof. QIAN Pei-Yuan, Chair Professor in the Department of Ocean Science at HKUST, in collaboration with Prof. SUN Jin of the Ocean University of China, Prof. QIU Jian-Wen of Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU), and research teams from multiple institutions worldwide. The findings were published in the international journal Nature Communications, titled " A multilamellar organelle for chemosymbiosis in an aplacophoran mollusc adapted to anoxic cold seep sediment ".
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