WHOI microbiologist Stefan Sievert and colleagues used FISH, or Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization, to localize and identify the microbes living in different parts of the gill chambers of shrimp living near hydrothermal vents. In the FISH technique, short stretches of nucleic acids tagged with different fluorescent labels bind to the DNA of specific microbes. This image shows two kinds of bacteria attached to a hair-like structure called a seta on the mouth appendages of the shrimp Rimicaris exoculata. The ring-shaped seta (seen here in cross-section) appears blue. Short, thin Gammaproteobacteria appear red, and longer, stouter Epsilonproteobacteria appear green. The scientists are working to determine whether these bacteria convert energy from chemicals in hydrothermal fluids into biomass that the shrimp can use as an energy source. (Image by Jillian Petersen, Symbiosis Group, Max-Planck-Institute for Marine Microbiology, Bremen, Germany)[back]
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