| Deprived of light, the deep-sea hydrothermal vents are extremes ecosystems sustained by micobial chemosynthesis. These environments are colonized by animal species living in close relationships with these chemoautotrophic micro-organisms, eating them or establishing long term interactions with them, may they be trophic or not only. The shrimp Rimicaris exoculata is an endemic hydrothermal species of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR) sites. This crustacean represents the predominant macrofauna of some sites of the MAR. It lives in symbiotic association with two distinct microbial communities qualified as ectosymbiosis. One is located in its gill chamber and one in its gut. First, this work focused on the study of bacterial communication (Quorum Sensing or QS)... |
