These tools will no longer be maintained as of December 31, 2024. Archived website can be found here. PubMed4Hh GitHub repository can be found here. Contact NLM Customer Service if you have questions.


Pubmed for Handhelds

PUBMED FOR HANDHELDS

Search MEDLINE/PubMed

  • Title: Transport of symbiont-encoded cellulases from the gill to the gut of shipworms via the enigmatic ducts of Deshayes: a 174-year mystery solved.
    Author: Altamia MA, Distel DL.
    Journal: Proc Biol Sci; 2022 Nov 09; 289(1986):20221478. PubMed ID: 36350208.
    Abstract:
    Shipworms (Bivalvia, Teredinidae) are the principal consumers of wood in marine environments. Like most wood-eating organisms, they digest wood with the aid of cellulolytic enzymes supplied by symbiotic bacteria. However, in shipworms the symbiotic bacteria are not found in the digestive system. Instead, they are located intracellularly in the gland of Deshayes, a specialized tissue found within the gills. It has been independently demonstrated that symbiont-encoded cellulolytic enzymes are present in the digestive systems and gills of two shipworm species, Bankia setacea and Lyrodus pedicellatus, confirming that these enzymes are transported from the gills to the lumen of the gut. However, the mechanism of enzyme transport from gill to gut remains incompletely understood. Recently, a mechanism was proposed by which enzymes are transported within bacterial cells that are expelled from the gill and transported to the mouth by ciliary action of the branchial or food grooves. Here we use in situ immunohistochemical methods to provide evidence for a different mechanism in the shipworm B. setacea, in which cellulolytic enzymes are transported via the ducts of Deshayes, enigmatic structures first described 174 years ago, but whose function have remained unexplained.
    [Abstract] [Full Text] [Related] [New Search]