Abstract
Two strains of Myxococcus xanthus, and a strain of Myxococcus fulvus were compared with respect to their ability to entrap and lyse trichomes of the cyanobacterium Phormidium luridum var. olivaceae. All of these isolates form colonial aggregates and spherules in either axenic culture with a tryptone-salts medium or in a mixed culture with viable cyanobacterial cells as the sole source of nutrients. Light microscopy showed evidence of swarming activity on the surface of all three myxococci with the accompanying formation of fruiting structures. Extended incubation of mixed cultures showed the myxococci to be capable of long-term control of the cyanobacterial population with predator-prey population cycling occurring on average every 9 days. Serial transfer of mixed cultures into either fresh autotrophic medium or cyanobacterial cultures of 107 per ml showed the persistence of predatory activity. Myxococcal densities were shown to return repeatedly to initial virulent levels. Predator inoculum levels could be reduced to 50 cells per 100 ml in a cyanobacterial culture of 107 per ml. These in vitro data enhance the potential of the myxococcus predatory colony as a biological control agent for in situ cyanobacteria.
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Burnham, J.C., Collart, S.A. & Daft, M.J. Myxococcal predation of the cyanobacterium Phormidium luridum in aqueous environments. Arch. Microbiol. 137, 220–225 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00414547
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00414547