Ref ID : 3556
Agnieszka Pajdak-Stos, Edyta Fialkowska, and Janusz Fyda; Phormidium autumnale (Cyanobacteria) defense against three ciliate grazer species. Aquatic Microbial Ecology 23:237-244, 2001
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Investigations of the effects of grazing by 3 species of ciliates - Pseudomicrothorax dubius Peck, Nassula citrea Kahl and Furgasonia blochmanni Faure-Fremiet - on mats of Phormidium autumnale (Agardh) Gomont showed that the cyanobacterium was capable of surviving very strong grazer pressure, thanks to both an extracellular polysaccharide (EPS) layer and behavioral defense. In the presence of ciliates, cyanobacteria trichomes were confined to a protective layer of extracellular material enclosing the mat. Trichomes attacked by a ciliate usually escaped by retreating within the EPS layer. The effectiveness of this kind of defense was reflected in dramatic changes in the conditions of the ciliates: within 30 hr of the start of the experiments a significant fraction was starved because they were unable to reach trichomes hidden within the shielding EPS layer.