Host-symbiont interaction between the polychaete Branchipolynoe seepensis and the vent mussel Bathymodiolus azoricus in response to metal accumulation in the mid-Atlantic-ridge

Trabajo presentado en el 18th International Symposium on Pollutant Responses in Marine Organisms (PRIMO 18), celebrado en Trondheim (Noruega) del 24 al 27 de mayo de 2015.
Hydrothermal vents are extreme environments rich in biodiversity. The polychaete Branchipolymoe seepensis subsists in the palleal cavity of the mussel vent Bathymodiolus azoricus. These scale-worms absorb metal particles deposited in mussel gills surface and their presence has been associated with local environmental characteristics. The goal of this work was to establish a host-symbiont relationship between these two species using oxidative stress as an endpoint in response to metal accumulation.
This study is included in the project DEEPFun PTDC/MAR/111749/2009 and NANOECOTOX PTDC/AAC- AMB /121650/2010, funded by Foundation of Science and Technology (FCT).