Question

Hydrothermal vent communities, discovered along mid-ocean ridges in the late 1970s, rely on primary production fueled not by sunlight, but by chemosynthetic bacteria. Unlike terrestrial ecosystems that depend on photosynthetic plants converting solar radiation into chemical energy, vent ecosystems utilize microbes that oxidize hydrogen sulfide emanating from geothermal fissures. These sulfur-oxidizing bacteria form symbiotic relationships with specialized organisms, such as giant tube worms (Riftia pachyptila), which lack functional digestive tracts and instead store the bacteria within a specialized organ called a trophosome. While earlier oceanographic models posited that all deep-sea life was strictly dependent on organic detritus sinking from sunlit surface waters, the discovery of hydrothermal vents demonstrated that complex animal communities could flourish entirely independent of photosynthetic primary energy sources.

Based on the passage, which of the following statements about sulfur-oxidizing bacteria in hydrothermal vent communities is/are explicitly supported by the text? Consider each of the choices separately and select all that apply.