Date Time Researchers Unlock Genomic Secrets of Gutless Deep-sea Tubeworm Researchers from The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) decoded for the first time the chromosomal-level genome of a deep-sea gutless tubeworm and how the worm’s co-living bacterial partners manufacture organic nutrients for its host so it can survive the extreme habitat. The discovery lays foundation for potential applications such as biomaterial production and microbial growth control. Tubeworms are present as large habitat-forming chitinized tube bushes in the deep-sea, where photosynthesis-derived organic matter are scarce. Living in deep-sea hydrothermal vents and cold seeps ecosystems characterized by darkness, high pressure and often high concentrations of toxic substances, submarine tubeworms – common living organisms of such extreme environments, were known to owe their survival and fast growth to sulphide-oxidising symbiotic bacteria that live inside their body. However, the success behind such a complementary “marriage” between the tubeworms and their co-living bacteria had remained unknown due to the lack of genomic resources.