Bacteria isolated from the gut of different developmental stages of Phlebotomus duboscqi Neveu-Lemaire, 1906 belonged almost all to aerobic or facultatively anaerobic gram-negative rods. In females, the highest bacterial counts were observed two days after bloodfeeding; seven days after bloodfeeding the bacterial counts returned to pre-feeding levels. Most isolates were identified phenotypically as Ochrobactrum sp. The distinctiveness and homogeneity of the phenotypic and genotypic characteristics of Ochrobactrum isolates indicated that they belonged to a single strain (designated AK). This strain was acquired by larvae from food and passaged transtadially: it was isolated from the guts of fourth-instar larvae shortly before pupation, from pupae as well from newly emerged females. Most other bacteria found in females were acquired from the sugar solution fed to adults. To determine if the midgut lectin activity may serve as antibacterial agent females were membrane-fed on blood with addition of inhibitory carbohydrates. No significant differences in bacterial infections were found between experimental and control groups and we suppose that the lectin activity has no effect on gram-negative bacteria present in sandfly gut.
Při studiu interakcí bakterií a prvoků se používají zejména metody fluorescenční mikroskopie v kombinaci se značenými bakteriemi, nebo i vysoce specifické fluorescenčně značené RNA-sondy (fluorescence in situ hydridizace), které umožňují i přesnou taxonomickou identifikaci druhů bakterií, pohlcovaných prvoky. Můžeme tak studovat nejenom rychlost, ale i selektivitu eliminace bakterií heterotrofními a mixotrofními bičíkovci a nálevníky v různých přírodních vodách., Trophic interaction between bacteria and protozoa is mainly studied by means of fluorescence microscopy exploiting various fluorescence labelling of bacteria, including highly specific RNA-probes for fluorescence in situ hybridization, which allows precise identification of bacterial species grazed by protozoa. By combining these approaches we can examine not only the total rate of protozoan bacterivory, but also the grazing selectivity of heterotrophic and mixotrophic flagellates and ciliates feeding on bacteria in a broad array of aquatic ecosystems., Karel Šimek., and autor: Redakce a Karel Šimek