Abstract
The identity of ectosymbiotic bacteria of some marine, free-living anacrobic ciliates (Metopus contortus, Caenomorpha levanderi and Parablepharisma sp.) was studied using fluorescent-dye-conjugated oligonucleotides complementary to short sequence elements of 16S ribosomal RNA. The ectosymbiotic bacteria of all species hybridized with a eubacterial probe and those of the two former mentioned species hybridized with a general probe for sulphate-reducing bacteria, but not to a probe specific for Desulfobacter. The results support indirect evidence suggesting that ectosymbiotic bacteria of anaerobic ciliates are sulphate-reducers which depend on host metabolites for substrates.
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Abbreviations
- DMSO:
-
dimethyl sulfoxide
- PBS:
-
phosphate-buffered saline, 137 mM NaCl, 2.7 mM KCl, 4.3 mM Na2HPO4, 1.4 mM KH2PO4, pH: 7.3
- TEAA:
-
triethylamonium acetate
- 1 x SSC:
-
standard sodium citrate buffer, 150 mM NaCl, 15 mM Na2 citrate, pH: 7.0
- 1 x Denh:
-
Denhardts solution, 0.02% ficoll, 0.02% bovine serum albumine, 0.02% polyvinol-pyralidone
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Fenchel, T., Ramsing, N.B. Identification of sulphate-reducing ectosymbiotic bacteria from anaerobic ciliates using 16S rRNA binding oligonucleotide probes. Arch. Microbiol. 158, 394–397 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00276298
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00276298