Microanalyse et hydrothermalisme oceanique. Premiers resultats et perspectives dans le domaine de la biologie

Specimens of hydrothermal vent organisms, Alvinella caudata and Bathymodiolus thermophilus were collected in 1982 from 13 degree N and 103 degree W, on the East Pacific Rise at a depth of 2600 m. The elemental composition was determined for some of their soft tissues at the structural and ultrastructural levels. Two microanalytical methods were used: secondary ion mass spectrometry and X-ray spectrometry. As examples, external and digestive epithelium and lumen of the digestive tract of Alvinella caudata and the gill and digestive gland of Bathymodiolus thermophilus were investigated. Intracellular localization of the elements, performed by electron microscopy, showed that spherocrystals and lysosomes were the target organelles of metal concentration. Moreover, bacteria were shown to be capable of elemental concentration. The correlations between the metal concentrations within the vent organisms and the metal concentrations characteristic of the vent environment are examined