Bdellovibrio Bacteriovorus

By: Drew Skidmore

Structure / Classification

• Gram negative

• Curved bacilli

• Long flagellum

• A delta proteobacteria

• Exist independently

Habitat / Metabolism

• 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

Adaptations

• 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

Wow

• Used to fight food borne illness and can destroy 90% of an E. Coli colony in an hour

• Moves at a speed that is equivalent to a human running at 600 km/hr

• Bore into the prey cell at over 100 rotations per second

Sources

• http://web.mst.edu/~microbio/BIO221_2001/bdellovibrio_bacteriovorus.html

• http://www.uwo.ca/mni/images/web_images/bdellovibrio.png

• http://www.ebi.ac.uk/2can/genomes/bacteria/Bdellovibrio_bacteriovorus.html

• http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/370513