Hydrothermal vents and methane seeps are extreme deep-sea ecosystems that support
dense populations of specialized macrobenthos such as mussels. But the lack of genome …

Comparative immunology, studying both vertebrates and invertebrates, provided the earliest
descriptions of phagocytosis as a general immune mechanism. However, the large scale of …

Our understanding of disease processes and host–pathogen interactions in model species
has benefited greatly from the application of medium and high-throughput genomic …

Background Low salinity is one of the main factors limiting the distribution and survival of
marine species. As a euryhaline species, the Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas is considered …

Non-self recognition with the consequent tolerance or immune reaction is a crucial process
to succeed as living organisms. At the same time the interactions between host species and …

The hydrothermal vent mussel Bathymodiolus azoricus lives in an intimate symbiosis with
two types of chemosynthetic Gammaproteobacteria in its gills: a sulfur oxidizer and a …

As a benthic filter-feeder of estuaries, the eastern oyster, Crassostrea virginica, faces
tremendous exposure to microbial pathogens. How eastern oysters without adaptive …

Mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis) are filter feeder bivalves that are constantly in contact
with a wide range of microorganisms, some of which are potentially pathogenic. How …

Background Sessile bivalves of the genus Mytilus are suspension feeders relatively tolerant
to a wide range of environmental changes, used as sentinels in ecotoxicological …

The marine mussel Mytilus edulis and its closely related sister species are distributed world-
wide and play an important role in coastal ecology and economy. The diversification in …