title: Recovery of bdellovibrios from submerged surfaces and other aquatic habitats.
abstract: The distribution of bdellovibrios was investigated over a wide geographical area of the Chesapeake Bay including some tributaries and subestuaries. Bdellovibrios were recovered from five aquatic habitats; water, sediment, oyster shell surface biofilm, zooplankton, and plants over a wide range of temperature and salinity measurements. Consistently, the greatest number of the predators was recovered from samples of biofilm irrespective of temperature and salinity. A decrease in the numbers and frequency of predators recovered from all habitats was observed at temperatures below 10°C. Only the shell surface biofilm samples yielded bdellovibrios 100% of the time. The organisms were recovered from 79% of water samples and 44% of sediment samples. The results reveal that bdellovibrios are surface-associated organisms and that this association appears to provide some protection for the predators at low temperatures.
authors.affiliation: University of Maryland at Baltimore, 666 West Baltimore St. Baltimore, 21201, St. Baltimore, MD.
authors.forename: H N
authors.initials: HN
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Schoeffield
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Guether
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kelley
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Shah
authors.forename: W A
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Falkler