I am a Ph.D. student at the Marine Biology Lab of the University of Vienna, Austria. My supervisor, Monika Bright, and I have been invited on this cruise by Colleen Cavanaugh at Harvard University and are collaborating with her lab on the "search for the free-living symbiont in tubeworms." The main topic for my Ph.D. work is the mode of transmission of the symbionts in the tubeworm symbiosis. This is my third cruise on board the RV Atlantis to the East Pacific Rise.
What questions are you trying to answer and why?
It is assumed that the transmission of symbionts in the tubeworms is horizontal. That means that each generation has to acquire their symbionts de novo from their environment. I am investigating how and when the tubeworms take up their symbionts. We term the life cycle of the tubeworms a "triphasic life cycle" consisting of a sessile symbiotic phase (late juvenile/adult), a vagile non-symbiotic phase (planctonic larva), and a sessile non-symbiotic phase (larva in metamorphosis/early juvenile). After the planctonic larva settles, it undergoes a dramatic metamorphosis. Shortly thereafter, the uptake of one specific bacterial phylotype, the respective symbiont, takes place. We believe that this uptake of symbionts is achieved via an infection through the skin of the worms and not as postulated earlier by uptake through the digestive tract. To investigate this infection process, we aim to collect very tiny juveniles. To do so, we deployed so called VASD (vestimentiferan artificial settlement devices) at a hydrothermal vent field called TICA during last year's cruise. After recovery of the VASDs, we will search for the "babies" (and hopefully find many!) and fix the animals for various immunohistochemical methods and for in situ hybridization on the light and electron microscopy level.
Why is this research important?
The tubeworms are absolutely dependent on their symbionts and yet they don't pass them on directly to their offspring — why not? For me, this was always an intriguing question. The knowledge of the mechanism of transmission in this obligatory symbiosis will give us not only insight in the evolution of this deep-sea association but also in the evolution of symbiosis in general.
What is your educational background and what lured you into marine research?
I bought myself a diving mask, looked under the water surface, and got hooked. I loved the sea ever since. After working 10 years as a registered nurse, I decided to study zoology and ecology and received my master's degree in marine biology at the University of Vienna. Currently, I am working on my Ph.D. thesis. I was very lucky to join the lab of Monika Bright, because through her, I got the chance to study the giant tubeworms and got invited on three cruises by Colleen Cavanaugh and Chuck Fisher.
