Alan W. Decho1, D. J. W. Moriarty1
1C.S.I.R.O. Marine Laboratories, P.O. Box 120, Cleveland, Queensland 4163, Australia
Tóm tắt
Exopolymer mucus secretions of bacteria and diatoms are potential foods for benthic animals. These secretions are coincidently ingested by animals during consumption of microbial cells and sediments. The utilization of microbial secretions was investigated with exopolymer derived from a marine bacterium (Pseudomonas sp.) from seagrass beds and a harpacticoid copepod Laophonte sp. from the same habitat. A new technique was developed to examine ingestion, absorption, and absorption efficiencies of these bacterial secretions by consumers. Exopolymer mucus (from the bacterium in stationary phase) was labeled with 14C, collected, purified, and bound onto bacterium‐sized beads. The exopolymer slime coating mimicked the coatings associated with many marine bacteria. Results from feeding experiments where the coated beads were mixed with sediment demonstrated that the mucus‐exopolymer secretions of bacteria were ingested and utilized by Laophonte sp. Absorption efficiencies, determined directly, were > 80% in the presence of other food resources, indicating that the exopolymer is potentially a highly labile C resource for this animal.
