Effects of Hemagglutination Activity in the Serum of a Deep-Sea Vent Endemic Crab, XXXX , on Non-Symbiotic and Symbiotic Bacteria.

@entity1641 @entity95 @entity1735 @entity3363 @entity71461
UNASSIGNED: In deep-sea hydrothermal environments, most invertebrates associate with dense populations of symbiotic microorganisms in order to obtain nutrition. The molecular interactions between deep-sea animals and environmental microbes, including their symbionts, have not yet been elucidated in detail. Hemagglutinins/lectins, which are @entity1735 -binding proteins, have recently been reported to play important roles in a wide array of biological processes, including the recognition and control of non-self materials. We herein assessed hemagglutination activity in the serum of a deep-sea vent endemic crab, @entity71461 , which harbors chemosynthetic epibionts on its plumose setae. @entity1641 and @entity95 erythrocytes were agglutinated using this serum (opt. pH 7.5 and opt. temperature 15  C). Agglutinating activity was inhibited by eight kinds of @entity3363 and several divalent cations, did not require any divalent metal ions, and remained detectable even after heating the serum at 100  C for 30 min. By using fluorescently labeled serum, we demonstrated that deep-sea crab serum components bound to the epibionts even in the presence of @entity3363 . This study represents the first immunological assessment of a deep-sea vent endemic crab and demonstrated the possibility of a non-lectin-mediated symbiont-host interaction.
