3. Bdellovibrio was first time described by Stolp &
Starr in 1963.
Bdellovibrio are-
Gram negative
Curved bacilli
Exist independently
Rod shape
Single flagella
Parasite against gram negative bacteria
5. Found in the ocean and fresh water
6°C to 37°C
Chemoheterotroph
Also found in land habitats and the intestines of
mammals
Eat gram negative bacteria that often cause
disease in plants, animals, and humans
It is both aerobic and anaerobic but it works
faster in an aerobic environment
6. Two phases of life, attack stage and growth stage
Very small 0.2 to 0.5 micrometers x 0.5 to 1.4
micrometers
Can move 100 cell lengths per second
Grows inside the prey cell and can increase its
length up to 20 times
Cell then bursts and the cycle repeats
7. Target of attack on prey outer cell membrane
No known mechanisms of resistance in prey
Likely target is either non-specific or highly
conserved receptor necessary for cell
viability
Subject of intense research as exact target has
been naturally selected as a favorable
strategy and may lead to development of
novel antibiotics
8.
9. Bdellovibrio uses flagella to make physical
contact, grabs on with pili
Attachment is initially reversible, becomes
permanent after initial “recognition” step
May have preferred prey – attachment rates differ
in mixed populations
Enters through hole induced in outer
membrane by peptidoglycan hydrolysis
10.
11. Movement by a cell or organism in reaction
to a chemical stimulous
Bdellovibrio genome contains 18 known
chemotaxis genes and 1 known aerotaxis
genes
Chemotaxis likely used to find environments
favorable to prey species
Quorum sensing signals are not utilized
12. Bdellovibrio estabilizes prey outer membrane to
contain nutrients and protect against dehydration
Bdellovibrio attaches to the inner membrane
causing the cytoplasm to round up into the
osmotically stable Bdelloplast
Exact mechanism of Bdelloplast formation
is unknown but prey membrane maintains
structural integrity
Bdellovibrio begins to extract and digest
prey cellular components
13. Used to fight food borne illness and can destroy
90% of an E. Coli colony in an hour
Bore into the prey cell at over 100 rotations per
second
14. Biological control of pathogens.It is microbial
predator which attacks Xanthomonas ,
Pseudomonas etc.
Water purification
Biofilm (an aggregate of microbes) control
Disadvantages
They might be deleterious to the plant growth
promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR)