Shadowing the actions of a predator: backlit fluorescent microscopy reveals synchronous nonbinary septation of predatory Bdellovibrio inside prey and exit through discrete bdelloplast pores.

ABSTRACT: The Bdellovibrio are miniature "living antibiotic" predatory bacteria which invade, reseal, and digest other larger Gram-negative bacteria, including pathogens. Nutrients for the replication of Bdellovibrio bacteria come entirely from the digestion of the single invaded bacterium, now called a bdelloplast, which is bound by the original prey outer membrane. Bdellovibrio bacteria are efficient digesters of prey cells, yielding on average 4 to 6 progeny from digestion of a single prey cell of a genome size similar to that of the Bdellovibrio cell itself. The developmental intrabacterial cycle of Bdellovibrio is largely unknown and has never been visualized "live." Using the latest motorized xy stage with a very defined z-axis control and engineered periplasmically fluorescent prey allows, fo

SUBMITTER: Fenton AK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3008530 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature