Community and single cell analyses reveal complex predatory interactions between bacteria in high diversity systems

Yossi Cohen, Zohar Pasternak, Susann Müller, Thomas Hübschmann, Florian Schattenberg, Kunjukrishnan Kamalakshi Sivakala, Alfred Abed-Rabbo, Antonis Chatzinotas and Edouard Jurkevitch ()
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Yossi Cohen: Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Zohar Pasternak: Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Susann Müller: Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Permoserstrasse 15
Thomas Hübschmann: Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Permoserstrasse 15
Florian Schattenberg: Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Permoserstrasse 15
Kunjukrishnan Kamalakshi Sivakala: Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Alfred Abed-Rabbo: Faculty of Science, Bethlehem University
Antonis Chatzinotas: Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Permoserstrasse 15
Edouard Jurkevitch: Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Nature Communications, 2021, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-13

Abstract: Abstract A fundamental question in community ecology is the role of predator–prey interactions in food-web stability and species coexistence. Although microbial microcosms offer powerful systems to investigate it, interrogating the environment is much more arduous. Here, we show in a 1-year survey that the obligate predators Bdellovibrio and like organisms (BALOs) can regulate prey populations, possibly in a density-dependent manner, in the naturally complex, species-rich environments of wastewater treatment plants. Abundant as well as rarer prey populations are affected, leading to an oscillating predatory landscape shifting at various temporal scales in which the total population remains stable. Shifts, along with differential prey range, explain co-existence of the numerous predators through niche partitioning. We validate these sequence-based findings using single-cell sorting combined with fluorescent hybridization and community sequencing. Our approach should be applicable for deciphering community interactions in other systems.

Date: 2021
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:12:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-021-25824-9

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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-25824-9

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