Interactions of nitrifying bacteria and heterotrophs: identification of a Micavibrio-like putative predator of Nitrospira spp.

ABSTRACT: Chemolithoautotrophic nitrifying bacteria release soluble organic compounds, which can be substrates for heterotrophic microorganisms. The identities of these heterotrophs and the specificities of their interactions with nitrifiers are largely unknown. In this study, we incubated nitrifying activated sludge with (13)C-labeled bicarbonate and used stable isotope probing of 16S rRNA to monitor the flow of carbon from uncultured nitrifiers to heterotrophs. To facilitate the identification of heterotrophs, the abundant 16S rRNA molecules from nitrifiers were depleted by catalytic oligonucleotides containing locked nucleic acids (LNAzymes), which specifically cut the 16S rRNA of defined target organisms. Among the (13)C-labeled heterotrophs were organisms remotely related to Micavibrio, a micro

SUBMITTER: Dolinsek J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3592250 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature