Abstract
The distribution of bdellovibrios was investigated over a wide geographical area of the Chesapeake Bay including some tributaries and subestuaries. Bdellovibrios were recovered from five aquatic habitats; water, sediment, oyster shell surface biofilm, zooplankton, and plants over a wide range of temperature and salinity measurements. Consistently, the greatest number of the predators was recovered from samples of biofilm irrespective of temperature and salinity. A decrease in the numbers and frequency of predators recovered from all habitats was observed at temperatures below 10°C. Only the shell surface biofilm samples yielded bdellovibrios 100% of the time. The organisms were recovered from 79% of water samples and 44% of sediment samples. The results reveal that bdellovibrios are surface-associated organisms and that this association appears to provide some protection for the predators at low temperatures.
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Williams, H.N., Schoeffield, A.J., Guether, D. et al. Recovery of bdellovibrios from submerged surfaces and other aquatic habitats. Microb Ecol 29, 39–48 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00217421
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00217421