the potential of bdellovibrio for the biocontrol of the infectious agent vibrio cholerae

members of the genus bdellovibrio are small and highly motile gram-negative predators of other gram-negative bacteria. bdellovibrio enters the prey cell, transforming it into a structure that is referred to as a bdelloplast. it then grows and divides inside the bdelloplast, ending in lysis and the release of the bdellovibrio progeny. because of this capability, bdellovibrio is a potential antibacterial agent. in this article, we report the results of studies on the interactions of bdellovibrio with actively growing and viable but nonculturable (vbnc) vibrio cholerae. a significant observation was that bdellovibrio attacked both vbnc and actively growing v. cholerae. these results indicate that bdellovibrio, a “living antibiotic,” has potential as an antibacterial agent in environmental and public health bioprotection.