Parasite in the nucleus

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Deep-sea Bathymodiolus mussels are found worldwide at hydrothermal vents and col
Deep-sea Bathymodiolus mussels are found worldwide at hydrothermal vents and cold seeps. The mussels live in symbiosis with beneficial bacteria that provide them with nutrition. The mussels also have a pathogenic bacterium that infects their nuclei. Intriguingly, the only cells not infected by the pathogen are those with symbiotic bacteria. © MARUM, Universität Bremen

Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology in Bremen, Germany, now reveal how a bacterial parasite infects and reproduces in the nuclei of deep-sea mussels from hydrothermal vents and cold seeps. A single bacterial cell invades the mussel’s nucleus where it reproduces to over 80,000 cells, while ensuring that its host cell stays alive.

Most animals live in intimate relationships with bacteria. Some of these bacteria live inside the cells of their hosts, but only very few are able to live inside cell organelles. ...

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