DRI scientists Joseph J. Grzymski and Alison E. Murray featured in PNAS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 12, 2008

RENO –Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) revealed new information from DRI scientists Joseph J. Grzymski and Alison E. Murray about one of the most mysterious associations on Earth.

“It is an extreme privilege as a scientist to work not only on interesting organisms that are relevant to our everyday life but also to dive to the depths of the ocean to do the actual work,” Grzymski said. “It is one of things that makes this work so cool.”

The “pompeii” worm, Alvinella pompejana, is one of the world’s most temperature tolerant multi-cellular organisms and lives at the bottom of the ocean in tubes of deep sea vents with temperatures between 50-150°F. This worm is host to a visibly dense “fleece” of bacteria on its back. The close union between worm and bacteria is described in detail in a new paper led by Grzymski and Murray.

This work provides insights into a group of bacteria that are common in hydrothermal vent ecosystems and more widely known as human and cow pathogens. By linking these two seemingly disparate habitats, scientists can better understand how organisms adapt to harsh environments and evolve into pathogens.

This work—“Metagenome analysis of an extreme microbial symbiosis reveals eurythermal adaptation and metabolic flexibility”—was led by an international team of scientists from DRI; University of Delaware; University of Waikato; New Zealand; and SymBio Corp. It was funded by the National Science Foundation.

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