Nutritional strategy of a benthic filamentous bacterium

Filibacter limicola is a filamentous gliding bacterium isolated from the profundal sediment of a eutrophic lake. It is an obligate amino acid utilizer. The kinetic parameters for the metabolism of four amino acids byF. limicola, Vitreoscilla spp. and the bacterial populations of water and sediment samples were compared.F. limicola exhibited low half-saturation constants (K) which were of the same order as those obtained with water samples. The K values for theVitreoscilla spp. and the sediment were an order of magnitude higher. It would appear that the bacterium is a specialist, inhabiting a niche which is sufficiently nutrient rich to support an organism with a limited substrate range. It also possesses a high affinity uptake system for some amino acids which may permit it to compete effectively during periods of nutrient depletion.