Bacterial colonization of particles: growth and interactions.

ABSTRACT: Marine particles in the ocean are exposed to diverse bacterial communities, and colonization and growth of attached bacteria are important processes in the degradation and transformation of the particles. In an earlier study, we showed that the initial colonization of model particles by individual bacterial strains isolated from marine aggregates was a function of attachment and detachment. In the present study, we have investigated how this colonization process was further affected by growth and interspecific interactions among the bacteria. Long-term incubation experiments showed that growth dominated over attachment and detachment after a few hours in controlling the bacterial population density on agar particles. In the absence of grazing mortality, this growth led to an equilibrium po

SUBMITTER: Grossart HP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC161515 | biostudies-literature | 2003 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature