Investigating the presence of predatory bacteria on algal bloom samples using a T6SS gene marker.

Abstract:

Predation is considered to be a major driving force in evolution and ecology, which has been observed affecting individual organisms, communities, and entire ecosystems. The type VI secretion system (T6SS) is an intermembranal protein complex identified in certain bacteria, which appears to have evolved strictly as a mechanism of predation. The effects of bacteria on phytoplankton physiology are still understudied, however, studies have shown that the interactions between bacteria that inhabit the phycosphere of phytoplankton can possibly result in coevolution of native host and microbiota. It is unclear if bacteria can prey upon other bacteria to gain advantages during periods of high phytoplankton density. Here, we investigate the predatory interactions between bacteria and analyze environmental samples for the presence of predatory bacterial genes in an effort to understand bacteria-bacteria and phytoplankton interactions during algal blooms. DNA were extracted from bacterial samples collected weekly from size-fractionated samples using 3.0 um and 0.2 um membrane filters at the Santa Cruz wharf. PCR amplification and gel visualization for the presence of T6SS gene was carried out on bloom and non-bloom samples. Moreover, we carried out a lab- based experiment to observe bacteria-bacteria interaction that may hint for the presence of predatory behavior between bacterial taxa. We observed what appeared to be a predatory biofilm formation between certain bacterial species. These bacteria, however, did not contain the T6SS genes. On the contrary the T6SS gene was discovered in some of the bloom samples gathered from the Santa Cruz wharf. It is still unclear if the predatory mechanisms facilitate the abundance of certain groups of bacteria that contain the T6SS genes during algal blooms, but our evidence suggest that bacterial predation through T6SS mechanism is present during bloom events.