Chemotactic Interactions of Scenedesmus sp. and Azospirillum brasilense Investigated by Microfluidic Methods

In this study, we investigated the behavior of Azospirillum brasilense bacteria in the vicinity of Scenedesmus sp. or its supernatant using a microfluidic device consisting of physically separated but chemically coupled microchambers. Following the spatial distribution of bacteria within the device, we detected a positive chemotactic response toward the microalgae culture. To identify the metabolites responsible for this behavior, we tested the chemoeffector potential of citric acid and oxaloacetic acid, which, according to our HPLC analysis, were present in the algae supernatant in 0.074 mg/ml and 0.116 mg/ml concentrations, respectively. We found that oxaloacetic acid acts as a chemoattractant for Azospirillum brasilense.PMID:38498218 | PMC:PMC10948495 | DOI:10.1007/s00248-024-02366-3
Source: Microbial Ecology - Category: Microbiology Authors: Source Type: research