Evolution of deep-sea mussels (Bathymodiolinae) and their chemosynthetic endosymbionts
By: by Kristina Marie Fontanez
Publisher: Harvard University
Published: 2012
Place of publication: Cambridge, Mass
Language: eng
Number of pages: 220
Subjects: Mytilidae
Description: Symbiosis is one of the most widespread evolutionary strategies on Earth. In the deep-sea, symbioses between chemosynthetic bacteria and invertebrates are abundant at hydrothermal vents and cold seeps. These mutualisms, in which symbiont carbon fixation provides for host nutrition, are analogous to the ancient endosymbioses that resulted in the chloroplast and the eukaryotic mitochondrion. However, the evolutionary processes that led to the widespread dispersal of deep-sea organisms and the mechanisms by which symbioses are initiated and maintained are poorly characterized.
Notes: "May 2012."

Thesis (Ph.D., Dept. of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology)--Harvard University, 2012.

Includes bibliographical references.