Cascading effects in freshwater microbial food webs by predatory Cercozoa, Katablepharidacea and ciliates feeding on aplastidic bacterivorous cryptophytes.

ABSTRACT: Heterotrophic nanoflagellates (HNF) are considered as major planktonic bacterivores, however, larger HNF taxa can also be important predators of eukaryotes. To examine this trophic cascading, natural protistan communities from a freshwater reservoir were released from grazing pressure by zooplankton via filtration through 10- and 5-µm filters, yielding microbial food webs of different complexity. Protistan growth was stimulated by amendments of five Limnohabitans strains, thus yielding five prey-specific treatments distinctly modulating protistan communities in 10- versus 5-µm fractions. HNF dynamics was tracked by applying five eukaryotic fluorescence in situ hybridization probes covering 55-90% of total flagellates. During the first experimental part, mainly small bacterivorous Cryptophy

SUBMITTER: Simek K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7538307 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature