Bdellovibrio sp: An Important Bacterial Predator in Lake Geneva?

Abstract

We describe a new Bdellovibrio and like organism (BALO) isolated from Lake Geneva. The bacterial predator is a new member of the genus Bdellovibrio (Bdellovibrionaceae) , enable to reproduce mainly on Pseudomonas spp preys. To achieve this goal, we used a variety of preys so that we also tested in parallel the host range of other well-known and characterized strains of Bdellovibrio such as B . exovorus JSS. Among original results, we observed that these BALOs could also grow on a fish pathogen, i.e. Aeromonas salmonicida salmonicida which is responsible for salmonid furunculosis, providing thus a new potential therapeutic agent against this bacterial infection in freshwater fish farming. This work sheds light on a functional group of bacteria still largely unknown.