Mechanisms to detoxify hydrogen sulfide using special amino acids in deep-sea organisms

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We studied the adaptation mechanisms to toxic hydrogen sulfide in deep-sea hydrothermal vent-specific animals through the analysis of the synthetic pathway of hypotaurine, which is a precursor of taurine and can bind to hydrogen sulfide and generate non-toxic thiotaurine. We identified the hypotaurine synthesis pathway, which has not been reported in any marine invertebrates, in the deep-sea mussel Bathymodiolus septemdierum. We also revealed that the genes of the enzymes involved in the hypotaurine synthesis actively expressed in the gill regardless of the sulfide concentration in the rearing water. We also analyzed the free amino acids including hypotaurine and its precursors to confirm the activity of the pathway. Bivalves may have acquired the habitat of hydrothermal vent area by utilizing a part of the taurine synthesis pathway.