Symbiont Community Composition in Rimicaris kairei Shrimps from Indian Ocean Vents with Notes on Mineralogy

A high-quality chromosomal genome assembly of the sea cucumber Chiridota heheva and its hydrothermal adaptation

BACKGROUND

Chiridota heheva is a cosmopolitan holothurian well adapted to diverse deep-sea ecosystems, especially chemosynthetic environments. Besides high hydrostatic pressure and limited light, high concentrations of metal ions also represent harsh conditions in hydrothermal environments. Few holothurian species can live in such extreme conditions. Therefore, it is valuable to elucidate the adaptive genetic mechanisms of C. heheva in hydrothermal environments.

FINDINGS

Herein, we report a high-quality reference genome assembly of C. heheva from the Kairei vent, which is the first chromosome-level genome of Apodida. The chromosome-level genome size was 1.43 Gb, with a scaffold N50 of 53.24 Mb and BUSCO completeness score of 94.5%. Contig sequences were clustered, ordered, and assembled into 19 natural chromosomes. Comparative genome analysis found that the expanded gene families and positively selected genes of C. heheva were involved in the DNA damage repair process. The expanded gene families and the unique genes contributed to maintaining iron homeostasis in an iron-enriched environment. The positively selected gene RFC2 with 10 positively selected sites played an essential role in DNA repair under extreme environments.

CONCLUSIONS

This first chromosome-level genome assembly of C. heheva reveals the hydrothermal adaptation of holothurians. As the first chromosome-level genome of order Apodida, this genome will provide the resource for investigating the evolution of class Holothuroidea.

Symbioses of alvinocaridid shrimps from the South West Pacific: No chemosymbiotic diets but conserved gut microbiomes

Rimicaris exoculata shrimps from hydrothermal vent ecosystems are known to host dense epibiotic communities inside their enlarged heads and digestive systems. Conversely, other shrimps from the family, described as opportunistic feeders have received less attention. We examined the nutrition and bacterial communities colonising 'head' chambers and digestive systems of three other alvinocaridids-Rimicaris variabilis, Nautilocaris saintlaurentae and Manuscaris sp.-using a combination of electron microscopy, stable isotopes and sequencing approaches. Our observations inside 'head' cavities and on mouthparts showed only a really low coverage of bacterial epibionts. In addition, no clear correlation between isotopic ratios and relative abundance of epibionts on mouthparts could be established among shrimp individuals. Altogether, these results suggest that none of these alvinocaridids rely on chemosynthetic epibionts as their main source of nutrition. Our analyses also revealed a substantial presence of several Firmicutes and Deferribacterota lineages within the foreguts and midguts of these shrimps, which closest known lineages were systematically digestive symbionts associated with alvinocaridids, and more broadly for Firmicutes from digestive systems of other crustaceans from marine and terrestrial ecosystems. Overall, our study opens new perspectives not only about chemosynthetic symbioses of vent shrimps but more largely about digestive microbiomes with potential ancient and evolutionarily conserved bacterial partnerships among crustaceans.