title: Multiple micro-predators controlling bacterial communities in the environment.
abstract: Predator-prey interactions are a main issue in ecological theory, including multispecies predator-prey relationships and intraguild predation. This knowledge is mainly based on the study of plants and animals, while its relevance for microorganisms is not well understood. The three key groups of micro-predators include protists, predatory bacteria and bacteriophages. They greatly differ in size, in prey specificity, in hunting strategies and in the resulting population dynamics. Yet, their potential to jointly control bacterial populations and reducing biomass in complex environments such as wastewater treatment plants is vast. Here, we present relevant ecological concepts and recent findings on micropredators, and propose that an integrative approach to predation at the microscale should be developed enabling the exploitation of this potential.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Microbiology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, 04318 Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Johnke
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology, Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 76100 Rehovot, Israel.
authors.forename: Yossi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Cohen
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology Engineering and The National Institute for Biotechnology, Ben Gurion University, 84105 Beer Sheva, Israel.
authors.forename: Marina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: de Leeuw
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology Engineering and The National Institute for Biotechnology, Ben Gurion University, 84105 Beer Sheva, Israel.
authors.forename: Ariel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kushmaro
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology, Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 76100 Rehovot, Israel. Electronic address: edouard.jurkevitch@mail.huji.ac.il.
authors.forename: Edouard
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Jurkevitch
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Microbiology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, 04318 Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Antonis
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chatzinotas
mesh_terms: D001419:Bacteria / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000472:pathogenicity / Q000821:virology*; D001435:Bacteriophages / Q000472:pathogenicity; D061046:Biological Control Agents; D004783:Environmental Microbiology; D056890:Eukaryota / Q000502:physiology*; D020387:Food Chain; D062065:Wastewater / Q000382:microbiology
chemical_list: D061046:Biological Control Agents; D062065:Wastewater