Approche métagénomique de la chimiosynthèse en système hydrothermal océanique profond : cas particulier des symbioses bactériennes associées à la crevette Rimicaris exoculata

The hydrothermal shrimp Rimicaris exoculata is an endemic species of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR).This species lives in dense aggregates on the walls of active chimneys and dominates the megafauna of most of these sites. This shrimp has two distinct microbial communities whose roles remain almost unknown. One of these communities is associated with the cephalothorax and hypertrophied mouthparts.These are covered by a dense community of bacteria affiliated to chemoautotrophic epibionts associated with mineral deposits. To deepen our knowledge on the symbiotic community in the context of the thesis, a metagenomic approach was undertaken. This helped highlighting the microbial diversity present with a dominant phylum, the Proteobacteria. Two classes are dominant, Gamma-and Epsilonproteobacteria, other classes are also present. A new class of Proteobacteria, the Zetaproteobacteria very recently described as free living in hydrothermal environments, was identified. Bacterial metabolic types have also been studied in more detail via the metagenome to advance further in the understanding of the symbiosis. It has been possible to reconstruct metabolic pathways for each main epibiont (i.e. Epsilon- and Gammaproteobacteria), and to study genes in response to environmental fluctuations, in cell communication and quorum-sensing. The Zetaproteobacteria group has also been studied, first in the context of metagenomic analysis, but also using molecular approaches on several specimens from the MAR hydrothermal sites, to better define the possible association between R. exoculata and iron-oxidizing bacteria. The second community associated with R. exoculata is located in the digestive tract. Additional analyzes to previous studies have been conducted in this thesis including a metagenomic approach and cultures.