Researchers from the Hebrew University revealed the relationships between predatory bacteria and other bacteria found in water purification plants, and discovered processes that affect the bacterial populations that were not known until now
What do we know about predation? Predators are of great importance in ecosystems. Predation contributes to a variety of species, to the stability of the ecosystem and more. The knowledge about the importance of predator-prey relationships comes from many studies in ecology and is based on animal studies. But what is its importance in the relationship between bacteria and how is it related to water purification systems?
A new study, recently published in the scientific journal "Nature Communications", was conducted under the leadership of Prof. Edward Yurkevitz from the Department of Plant Diseases and Microbiology, the Institute of Environmental Sciences in the Faculty of Agriculture at the Hebrew University, examines the effect of populations of predatory bacteria on other bacteria and tries to answer basic questions such as: how much Are predators around and how diverse are they? What are the bacteria that are preyed upon by the different types of predators? What are the dynamics of predator-prey relationships in these systems? The research revealed a large variety of predators that was unknown until now and maps the predation relationships between the predators and the prey populations. What is the importance of basic research on this topic for water recovery Contaminated?
The researchers dealt with the bacteria found inWater recovery systems, a process in which polluted water is taken and made suitable for reuse. In Israel, this process is very common and about 90% of the sewage is collected and used mainly for agriculture. The main activity of water purification is done by very diverse populations of bacteria.
The researchers collected samples at various water purification plants throughout an entire year. The results of the research were surprising - a much larger variety of predatory bacteria was found than the variety that was known until now. It was also determined that the concentration of predators relative to the total bacterial population is fairly constant, both in the various factories and throughout the year. With the help of a unique method of marking the predators, the researchers classified predator-prey pairs and were able to identify them. It is possible to discover that the different populations of predators change according to the seasons and the availability of their prey. Another significant discovery is that most of the bacteria that are devoured belong to dominant bacterial groups and it was not known until now that they are devoured by other bacteria. The study reveals that predation between bacteria is an integral and important phenomenon of the water restoration process, which was unknown until now.
Prof. Yurkevich said about the implications that research on water purification processes may have: "The process involves many different populations of bacteria that influence one another. The interrelationships (interactions) between the bacteria are often only partially understood, and among them are interactions of predation, that is, when bacteria Eating other bacteria. There is great difficulty in studying predation between bacteria in the environment Thus, the study also revealed the importance of predation between bacteria in the sewage purification process, an understanding that may lead to new developments and more effective technologies in water recovery and other areas."
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