ArticleBMC ecology2019
Flatworm mucus as the base of a food web.
Article in BMC ecology, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed, 10 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pseudoalteromonas is a symbiont of marine invertebrates that exhibits broad patterns of phylosymbiosis.The ISME journal · 2026Article
- Article
- Planarian Mucus: A Novel Source of Pleiotropic Cytotoxic and Cytostatic Agents against Cancer Cells.Biomolecules · 2024Article
- Population density, bottom-up and top-down control as an interactive triplet to trigger dispersal.Scientific reports · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundBy altering their habitats, engineering species can improve their own fitness. However, the effect of this strategy on the fitness of coexisting species or on the structure of the respective food web is poorly understood. In this study, bacteria and bacterivorous nematodes with short (Caenorhabditis elegans) and long (Plectus acuminatus) life cycles were exposed to the mucus secreted by the freshwater flatworm Polycelis tenuis. The growth, reproduction, and feeding preferences of the nematodes in the presence/absence of the mucus were then determined. In addition, confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) was used to examine the structural footprint of the mucus and the mucus colonization dynamics of bacteria and protozoans.
resultsMucus exposure resulted in a greater reproductive output in P. acuminatus than in C. elegans. In a cafeteria experiment, both nematode species were attracted by bacteria-rich patches and were not deterred by mucus. CLSM showed that the flatworms spread a layer of polysaccharide-rich mucus ca. 15 µm thick from their tails. Subsequent colonization of the mucus by bacteria and protozoans resulted in an architecture that progressively resembled a complex biofilm. The presence of protozoans reduced nematode reproduction, presumably due to competition for their bacterial food supply.
conclusionAnimal secretions such as mucus may have broader, community-level consequences and contribute to fueling microbial food webs.
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