Ref ID : 6888
B.S. Griffiths; Mineralization of Nitrogen and Phosphorus by Mixed Cultures of the Ciliate Protozoan Colpoda steinii, the Nematode Rhabditis sp. and the Bacterium Pseudomonas fluorescens. Soil Biol.Biochem. 18(6):637-641, 1986
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Numbers of the ciliate protozoan Colpoda steinii Maupas were increased by the presence of a nematode (Rhabditis sp.), in soil and liquid culture. The development of nematode numbers was inhibited by the ciliate. Observations of hatching nematodes, together with counts of total and viable numbers of the bacterium Pseudomonas fluorescens, indicate that Rhabditis sp. increased bacterial productivity but that the activity of C. steinii inhibited feeding by the nematode. When the two bacterial grazers were present in combination C. steinii benefited from increased bacterial productivity induced by Rhabditis sp. Both grazers increased the mineralization of NH(4+)-N when added separately to soil, and this was further increased when nematodes and ciliates were present in combination. There was no effect of grazing on levels of bicarbonate-soluble phosphate (Pi), while nematodes had a variable effect on levels of soil NO(3-)-N.