Diversity of bacterial communities associated with antennae and antennules of hydrothermal vent shrimps

Specimens of hydrothermal vent shrimps (Mirocaris fortunata, Alvinocaris markensis, Rimicaris exoculata and Chorocaris chacei) were shown to harbour much more bacteria on their antennae compared to a coastal species (Palaemon elegans). This unexpected abundance of bacteria questions whether bacterial communities may alter or influence the sensory functions of these structures. In this study we conducted a comparative analysis of community composition on the antennae and medial and lateral flagella of the antennule in all these species using the V1-V3 region of the 16S rRNA-encoding gene, and a paired end Illumina sequencing approach. Comparison points to significant differences between the bacterial communities associated with vent and the non-vent species, and among the vent species in which different sequence variants dominate.