Because their large growth potential is counterbalanced with grazing by heterotrophic nanoflagellates (HNF), bacteria of the genus Limnohabitans, which are common in many freshwater habitats, represent a valuable model for examining bacterial carbon flow to the grazer food chain. We conducted experiments with natural HNF communities taken from two distinct habitats, the meso-eutrophic Římov Reservoir and the oligo-mesotrophic Lake Cep (South Bohemia). HNF communities from each habitat at distinct seasonal phases, a late April algal bloom and a late May clear water phase, were each fed 3 Limnohabitans strains of differing cell sizes. Water samples were prefiltered (5 μm) to release natural HNF communities from zooplankton control and then amended with the Limnohabitans strains L. planktonicus II-D5 (medium sized, rod shaped), Limnohabitans sp. strain T6-5 (thin, long, curved rod), and Limnohabitans sp. strain 2KL-3 (large solenoid). Using temporal sampling and prey treatment, we determined HNF growth parameters such as doubling time, growth efficiency, and length of lag phase prior starting to exponential growth. All three Limnohabitans strains supported HNF growth but in significant prey-, site-, and season-dependent fashions. For instance, addition of the moderately large T6-5 strain yielded very rapid HNF growth with a short lag phase. In contrast, the curved morphology and larger cell size of strain 2KL-3 made this prey somewhat protected against grazing by smaller HNF, resulting in slower HNF growth and longer lag phases. These trends were particularly pronounced during the late May clear-water phase, which was dominated by smaller HNF cells. This may indicate a longer "adaptation time" for the flagellate communities toward the large prey size offered.

• MeSH
• Comamonadaceae cytologie   růst a vývoj   MeSH
• heterotrofní procesy MeSH
• jezera mikrobiologie   parazitologie   MeSH
• potravní řetězec MeSH
• roční období MeSH
• sladká voda mikrobiologie   parazitologie   MeSH
• zooplankton růst a vývoj   MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Check Tag
• zvířata MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH
• Geografické názvy
• Česká republika MeSH

Different bacterial strains can have different value as food for heterotrophic nanoflagellates (HNF), thus modulating HNF growth and community composition. We examined the influence of prey food quality using four Limnohabitans strains, one Polynucleobacter strain and one freshwater actinobacterial strain on growth (growth rate, length of lag phase and growth efficiency) and community composition of a natural HNF community from a freshwater reservoir. Pyrosequencing of eukaryotic small subunit rRNA amplicons was used to assess time-course changes in HNF community composition. All four Limnohabitans strains and the Polynucleobacter strain yielded significant HNF community growth while the actinobacterial strain did not although it was detected in HNF food vacuoles. Notably, even within the Limnohabitans strains we found significant prey-related differences in HNF growth parameters, which could not be related only to size of the bacterial prey. Sequence data characterizing the HNF communities showed also that different bacterial prey items induced highly significant differences in community composition of flagellates. Generally, Stramenopiles dominated the communities and phylotypes closely related to Pedospumella (Chrysophyceae) were most abundant bacterivorous flagellates rapidly reacting to addition of the bacterial prey of high food quality.

• MeSH
• Actinobacteria fyziologie   MeSH
• Burkholderiaceae fyziologie   MeSH
• časové faktory MeSH
• Comamonadaceae fyziologie   MeSH
• Eukaryota růst a vývoj   metabolismus   fyziologie   MeSH
• fyziologie bakterií MeSH
• geny rRNA genetika   MeSH
• heterotrofní procesy MeSH
• potravní řetězec MeSH
• sladká voda mikrobiologie   MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH

Bacteria of the genus Limnohabitans, more precisely the R-BT lineage, have a prominent role in freshwater bacterioplankton communities due to their high rates of substrate uptake and growth, growth on algal-derived substrates and high mortality rates from bacterivory. Moreover, due to their generally larger mean cell volume, compared to typical bacterioplankton cells, they contribute over-proportionally to total bacterioplankton biomass. Here we present genetic, morphological and ecophysiological properties of 35 bacterial strains affiliated with the Limnohabitans genus newly isolated from 11 non-acidic European freshwater habitats. The low genetic diversity indicated by the previous studies using the ribosomal SSU gene highly contrasted with the surprisingly rich morphologies and different patterns in substrate utilization of isolated strains. Therefore, the intergenic spacer between 16S and 23S rRNA genes was successfully tested as a fine-scale marker to delineate individual lineages and even genotypes. For further studies, we propose the division of the Limnohabitans genus into five lineages (provisionally named as LimA, LimB, LimC, LimD and LimE) and also additional sublineages within the most diversified lineage LimC. Such a delineation is supported by the morphology of isolated strains which predetermine large differences in their ecology.

• MeSH
• Betaproteobacteria klasifikace   genetika   růst a vývoj   metabolismus   MeSH
• biomasa MeSH
• ekosystém * MeSH
• fylogeneze MeSH
• genetická variace * MeSH
• molekulární sekvence - údaje MeSH
• RNA ribozomální 16S genetika   MeSH
• sladká voda mikrobiologie   MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH
• Názvy látek
• RNA ribozomální 16S MeSH