Description:
<jats:title>ABSTRACT</jats:title>
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Bacteria of the genus
<jats:named-content content-type="genus-species">Lysobacter</jats:named-content>
are considered to be facultative predators that use a feeding strategy similar to that of myxobacteria. Experimental data supporting this assumption, however, are scarce. Therefore, the predatory activities of three
<jats:named-content content-type="genus-species">Lysobacter</jats:named-content>
species were tested in the prey spot plate assay and in the lawn predation assay, which are commonly used to analyze myxobacterial predation. Surprisingly, only one of the tested
<jats:named-content content-type="genus-species">Lysobacter</jats:named-content>
species showed predatory behavior in the two assays. This result suggested that not all
<jats:named-content content-type="genus-species">Lysobacter</jats:named-content>
strains are predatory or, alternatively, that the assays were not appropriate for determining the predatory potential of this bacterial group. To differentiate between the two scenarios, predation was tested in a CFU-based bioassay. For this purpose, defined numbers of
<jats:named-content content-type="genus-species">Lysobacter</jats:named-content>
cells were mixed together with potential prey bacteria featuring phenotypic markers, such as distinctive pigmentation or antibiotic resistance. After 24 h, cocultivated cells were streaked out on agar plates and sizes of bacterial populations were individually determined by counting the respective colonies. Using the CFU-based predation assay, we observed that
<jats:named-content content-type="genus-species">Lysobacter</jats:named-content>
spp. strongly antagonized other bacteria under nutrient-deficient conditions. Simultaneously, the
<jats:named-content content-type="genus-species">Lysobacter</jats:named-content>
population was increasing, which together with the killing of the cocultured bacteria indicated predation. Variation of the predator/prey ratio revealed that all three
<jats:named-content content-type="genus-species">Lysobacter</jats:named-content>
species tested needed to outnumber their prey for efficient predation, suggesting that they exclusively practiced group predation. In summary, the CFU-based predation assay not only enabled the quantification of prey killing and consumption by
<jats:named-content content-type="genus-species">Lysobacter</jats:named-content>
spp. but also provided insights into their mode of predation.
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