Bacterivore
Encyclopedia
Bacterivores are free-living, generally heterotrophic organisms, exclusively microscopic
Microscopic
The microscopic scale is the scale of size or length used to describe objects smaller than those that can easily be seen by the naked eye and which require a lens or microscope to see them clearly.-History:...

, which obtain energy and nutrients primarily or entirely from the consumption of bacteria
Bacteria
Bacteria are a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria have a wide range of shapes, ranging from spheres to rods and spirals...

. Many species of amoeba
Amoeba
Amoeba is a genus of Protozoa.History=The amoeba was first discovered by August Johann Rösel von Rosenhof in 1757. Early naturalists referred to Amoeba as the Proteus animalcule after the Greek god Proteus, who could change his shape...

 are bacterivores, as well as other types of protozoans. In common all species of bacteria will be prey. But spores of some species like Clostridium perfringens
Clostridium perfringens
Clostridium perfringens is a Gram-positive, rod-shaped, anaerobic, spore-forming bacterium of the genus Clostridium. C. perfringens is ever present in nature and can be found as a normal component of decaying vegetation, marine sediment, the intestinal tract of humans and other vertebrates,...

will never be prey, because of their cellular attributes.

Microbiology

In Watermicrobiology some samples were collected to give some information about inhabitant microorganisms. Most of the probes of freshwater can be contaminated with bacterivores. By adding cycloheximide
Cycloheximide
Cycloheximide is an inhibitor of protein biosynthesis in eukaryotic organisms, produced by the bacterium Streptomyces griseus. Cycloheximide exerts its effect by interfering with the translocation step in protein synthesis thus blocking translational elongation...

, the bacteriovores will be inhibited and the bacteria will raise up normally. For bacteria adsorbed to sediment 2 g cycloheximide per 100 g sediment will be added.
For experiments with spores (for example spores of C. perfringens), it is not necessesary to add cycloheximide to the samples.

Examples

  • Ceriodaphnia quadrangula
  • Diaphanosoma brachyura
  • Vorticella
    Vorticella
    Vorticella is a genus of protozoa, with over 16 known species. They are stalked inverted bell-shaped ciliates, placed among the peritrichs. Each cell has a separate stalk anchored onto the substrate, which contains a contractile fibril called a myoneme. When stimulated this shortens, causing the...

  • Paramecium
    Paramecium
    Paramecium is a group of unicellular ciliate protozoa, which are commonly studied as a representative of the ciliate group, and range from about 0.05 to 0.35 mm in length. Simple cilia cover the body, which allow the cell to move with a synchronous motion at speeds of approximately 12 body...

  • Many species of Protozoa
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