Katz S., Klepal W. and Bright M. 2011. The Osedax trophosome: organization and ultrastructure. The Biological Bulletin 220: 128-139

Eichinger I., Klepal W., Schmid M. and Bright M. 2011. Organization and microanatomy of the Sclerolinum contortum trophosome (Polychaeta, Siboglinidae). The Biological Bulletin 220: 140-153

These two papers deal with the evolutionary origin of the symbiont housing organ – called the trophosome - of siboglinid polychaetes, worms that rely completely on their symbiotic bacteria as they have no digestive system as adults. Sigrid Katz describes the organization and cell cycle of the Osedax trophosome whereas Irmgard Eichinger shows the microanatomy of the Sclerolinum trophosome. These investigations are a result of the FWF project Tropholution.

This special volume of interesting synthesis and original research papers is the result of an multidisicplinary integrated research program, that brought together specialists from several disciplines to study the hydrocarbon seeps in the Gulf of Mexico. The paper of the hot vent - cold seep research group deals with the diversity and abundance of meiofauna associated with tubeworm and mussels, important foundation species at cold seeps.

The PLoS ONE ChEss Collection 2010

The ChEss Collection is a result of the Census of Marine Life ChEss Program and presents advances in biogeography and taxonomy within deep-sea chemosynthetic environments. Three papers by Sabine Gollner and Monika Bright from the Hot Vents - Cold Seeps research group in Vienna are included in this collection. Gollner et al. (2010a) show the findings that vent meiofauna is not restricted to vents and that diversity is low and inversely correlated to hydrothermal stress. Two other manuscripts give reviews on dirivultid copepods (Gollner et al. 2010b) and nematodes (Vanreusel et al. 2010) from deep-sea chemosynthetic environments.

By Monika Bright and François H. Lallier

Bright M. and Lallier F.H. 2010. The biology of vestimentiferan tubeworms. Oceanography and Marine Biology: An Annual Review 48, 213-266.

Vestimentiferan tubeworms belong to the deep-sea polychaete family Siboglinidae. Instead of a digestive system, they live in symbiosis with endosymbiotic, chemoautotrophic bacteria. Their widespread and abundant occurrence at hydrothermal vents and hydrocarbon seeps has fostered more than 500 studies of their evolution and biogeography, ecology and physiology. The present review summarises recent work on the host biology in a broad sense and on host–symbiont relationships.