In:
Applied and Environmental Microbiology, American Society for Microbiology, Vol. 67, No. 9 ( 2001-09), p. 4077-4083
Abstract:
During bottle incubations of heterotrophic marine picoplankton, some bacterial groups are conspicuously favored. In an earlier investigation bacteria of the genus Pseudoalteromonas rapidly multiplied in substrate-amended North Sea water, whereas the densities of Oceanospirillum changed little (H. Eilers, J. Pernthaler, and R. Amann, Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 66:4634–4640, 2000). We therefore studied the growth patterns of two isolates affiliating with Pseudoalteromonas and Oceanospirillum in batch culture. Upon substrate resupply, Oceanospirillum lagged threefold longer than Pseudoalteromonas but reached more than fivefold-higher final cell density and biomass. A second, mobile morphotype was present in the starved Oceanospirillum populations with distinctly greater cell size, DNA and protein content, and 16S rRNA concentration. Contrasting cellular ribosome concentrations during stationary phase suggested basic differences in the growth responses of the two strains to a patchy environment. Therefore, we exposed the strains to different modes of substrate addition. During cocultivation on a single batch of substrates, the final cell densities of Oceanospirillum were reduced three times as much as those Pseudoalteromonas , compared to growth yields in pure cultures. In contrast, the gradual addition of substrates to stationary-phase cocultures was clearly disadvantageous for the Pseudoalteromonas population. Different growth responses to substrate gradients could thus be another facet affecting the competition between marine bacteria and may help to explain community shifts observed during enrichments.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
0099-2240
,
1098-5336
DOI:
10.1128/AEM.67.9.4077-4083.2001
Language:
English
Publisher:
American Society for Microbiology
Publication Date:
2001
detail.hit.zdb_id:
223011-2
detail.hit.zdb_id:
1478346-0
SSG:
12
