Stilbonematinae is a subfamily of the nematode worm family Desmodoridae that is notable for its symbiosis with sulfur-oxidizing bacteria.
Stilbonematinae Chitwood, 1936 belongs to the family Desmodoridae in the order Desmodorida. Nine genera have been described.[1]
Stilbonematines can be up to 10 mm long, with a club-like head. The worms are completely covered in a coat of ectosymbiotic sulfur-oxidizing bacteria except for the anterior region. The presence of the bacteria, which often contain intracellular inclusions of elemental sulfur, gives the worms a bright white appearance under incident light. They have small mouths and buccal cavities, and short pharynges. Many species have multicellular sensory-glandular organs in longitudinal rows along the length of the body, which secrete mucus that the bacterial symbionts are embedded in.[1]
Stilbonematines are found in the meiofaunal habitat in marine environments.[2] Another group of meiofaunal nematodes with sulfur-oxidizing symbionts is the genus Astomonema, although in Astomonema the bacteria are endo- rather than ectosymbionts.
The bacterial symbionts of stilbonematines are of different shapes and sizes, ranging from small coccoid cells to elongate crescent-like cells, but each host species has only a single morphological type associated with it.[3] The bacterial symbionts of stilbonematines are closely related to the sulfur-oxidizing symbionts of gutless phallodriline oligochaete worms: these bacteria were all descended from a single ancestor, and each host species has its own specific bacterial species.[4]
The bacterial symbionts are chemosynthetic, gaining energy by oxidizing sulfide from the environment, and producing biomass by fixing carbon dioxide through the Calvin-Benson-Bassham cycle.[3] The bacteria benefit from the symbiosis because the host animal can migrate between sulfide- and oxygen-rich regions of the sediment habitat, and the bacteria require both these chemical substances to produce energy. The hosts are believed to consume the bacteria as a food source, based on evidence from their stable carbon isotope ratios.[5]
The specificity of the bacterial symbionts to their respective host species is controlled by a lectin called Mermaid that is produced by the worms. Mermaid occurs in different isoforms, which have differing affinities for the sugar compositions of the lipopolysaccharide coat in different bacterial species.[6]
Stilbonematinae is a subfamily of the nematode worm family Desmodoridae that is notable for its symbiosis with sulfur-oxidizing bacteria.
