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Article: Physiological functioning of carbonic anhydrase in the hydrothermal vent tubeworm Riftia Pachyptila.
- Article from:
- The Biological Bulletin
- Article date:
- June 1, 1999
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1999 Marine Biological Laboratory. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Introduction
The giant hydrothermal vent tubeworm Rifiia pachyptila has an unusual mode of existence, relying primarily upon its symbionts for nutrition. These symbiotic bacteria have been shown to fix only C[O.sub.2], yet they have a low affinity for it ([K.sub.m] for C[O.sub.2] = 21-35 [[micro]mol] [1.sup.-1]; Scott et al., 1994). R. pachyptila must, therefore, supply inorganic carbon to the bacteria, which are far removed from the external medium, at high rates and at concentrations sufficient to support its extremely high growth rates (up to 3 ft [y.sup.-1]; Lutz et al., 1994). Net rates of carbon fixation in R. pachyptila can be quite high, and the ...