Competition and protist predation are important regulators of riverine bacterial community composition and size distribution

ABSTRACTAmong the bacterivorous protists, heterotrophic nanoflagellates (HNFs) are considered to be the main grazers of bacteria in freshwaters due to their size-selective grazing. In this work, we assessed the change of a riverine bacterial community in controlled incubations, where HNFs’ predation pressure was initially released through filtration. Filtration did not prevent the passage of cysts, which grew in the enrichments afterwards. Data on the composition of the bacterial community were gathered by Catalyzed Reporter Deposition Fluorescent In situ Hybridization (CARD-FISH) using 16S probes targeting phylogenetic groups. Bacterial cell size was also examined using image analysis. Overall, the initial filtration directly (through release of predation pressure) or indirectly (through competition among bacterial groups) affected the bacterial community composition. When nanoflagellate abundance rose, a reduction of bacterial abundance and changes in cell size distribution were observed. Gamma-Proteoba...