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Physiological state of epiphytic bacteria on submerged stems of the reed Phragmites australis compared with planktonic bacteria in gravel‐pit ponds
Author(s) -
Alhadithi S.A.,
Goulder R.
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
journal of applied bacteriology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.889
H-Index - 156
eISSN - 1365-2672
pISSN - 0021-8847
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2672.1989.tb02460.x
Subject(s) - epiphyte , phragmites , bacteria , biology , plankton , botany , bacterioplankton , ecology , microbiology and biotechnology , nutrient , phytoplankton , wetland , genetics
Suspensions of epiphytic bacteria from submerged stems of Phragmites australis , collected from a gravel‐pit pond, were prepared by treatment in a stomacher and by brushing. The two procedures were equally successful in dislodging bacteria. These epiphytic bacteria were compared with planktonic bacteria in water samples from within the reed bed. Colony‐forming units (cfu) as a percentage of acridine‐orange direct counts (AODCs), percentage of cells capable of intracellular reduction of 2‐( p ‐iodophenyl)‐3‐( p ‐nitrophenyl)‐5‐phenyl tetrazolium chloride (INT) to INT‐formazan, percentage of cells able to form microcolonies, and cell length were all greater for epiphytic bacteria. Epiphytic bacteria of P. australis from six further gravel‐pit ponds were also compared with bacterioplankton; cfu as a percentage of AODCs, and percentage of cells capable of INT reduction were again greater for epiphytic bacteria. Because the epiphytic bacteria in these non‐organically‐enriched, gravel‐pit ponds were physiologically different from the planktonic bacteria it is suggested that there was not continual casual exchange, by largely identical bacterial cells, between the epiphytic and planktonic mode. Instead, epiphytic and planktonic populations were independent of each other and/or if there was exchange then bacteria were more successful while in the attached mode, perhaps because of greater organic‐nutrient availability at the stem surface.