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Predation in microbial communities: gradients of nutritive killing

Nature Reviews Microbiology (2026)Cite this article

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Abstract

Long before nature was ‘red in tooth and claw’, it was sundered by nano-spears and seeping poisons. Microorganisms were the first predators, and predation has since deeply shaped all major branches of life — from individual traits to collective systems, community dynamics and major evolutionary transitions. Yet, we have only begun to understand how microbial predation influences the genetics, morphology, behaviour, ecology and evolution of microorganisms in natural communities and, in turn, the macroscopic biosphere. With the field advancing rapidly on diverse fronts, integrative conceptual frameworks, questions and research approaches are needed to promote synthetic development of the field. In this Review, we explore the remarkably diverse forms of microbial predation that have evolved so far, considering organismal traits and their molecular foundations alongside the evolutionary ecology of predator–prey interactions in community contexts. Building on a process-based definition, forms of microbial predation are conceptualized along gradients, including gradients of evolutionary adaptedness for predation and of privatization of prey-derived nutrients. Important future research themes include predation origins and early stages of predatory adaptation, effects of diverse forms of predation on community diversity and stability, predator–prey co-evolution in complex communities, and multi-approach development of unicellular predators as biocontrol agents.

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Fig. 1: Major categories of predators of microorganisms and their predation-related features.
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Fig. 2: Forms of searching and handling.
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Fig. 3: Cascades and feedback.
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Acknowledgements

The authors thank N. Mayrhofer for extensive assistance with literature research and S. Huwiler, E. Jurkevitch and L. Kroos for helpful comments on the manuscript. They acknowledge the authors of the many excellent publications relevant to this Review from which they learned much but regretfully did not cite due to space restrictions.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Integrative Biology, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

    Marie Vasse & Gregory J. Velicer

  2. University of Bordeaux, CNRS, ImmunoConcEpT, UMR 5164, Bordeaux, France

    Marie Vasse

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  1. Marie Vasse
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  2. Gregory J. Velicer
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The authors contributed equally to the preparation of this manuscript.

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Correspondence to Marie Vasse or Gregory J. Velicer.

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Euchlanis: https://www.plingfactory.de/Science/Atlas/KennkartenTiere/Rotifers/01RotEng/E-TL/Genus/Euchlanis.html

MyxoEEs: myxoee.org

Supplementary information

Glossary

Accidental predation

Predation mediated by traits that were not previously selected due to predatory benefits.

Adapted predation

Predation mediated by traits previously selected due to predation benefits. Adapted predation spans various degrees of adaptedness.

Apparent competition

Interspecies interaction caused by sharing a predator rather than competition for resources.

Endobiotic handling

Attachment to and invasion of prey before eating them from the inside.

Engulfment

Swallowing of prey.

Epibiotic handling

Contact-dependent handling, during which the predator remains outside of the prey cell.

Functional response

Relationship between the number of predation events and the density of prey.

Handling

The combined process of killing, decomposing and consuming prey after initial contact.

Interference competition

Directly harming other organisms for a fitness gain.

Ixotrophy

Use of sticky cell surfaces or appendages to capture prey.

Kin-level predation

Predation in which nutrients from prey are consumed by scavenging offspring of predators or other close kin of predators. Kinship in this context might be defined in terms of allelic similarity at genetic elements contributing to the generation of public prey-derived nutrients — elements that might be many in number and diverse in function in any given predator.

Microbial loop

Cycling of organic matter derived from high-trophic-level organisms through microorganisms and then back into higher trophic levels of the food web through predation.

Non-consumptive effects

Modifications of prey behaviour and/or physiology in response to predators when potential prey are not killed.

Non-portal-epibiotic handling

Contact-dependent killing and/or lysis not involving a portal.

Portal

An opening in a prey-cell wall created during sustained predator–prey contact through which a predator cell and/or molecules from either the predator or prey can pass.

Portal-epibiotic handling

Formation of a sustained portal between predator and prey through which killing and/or lytic factors may be delivered into the prey and prey nutrients are taken up into the predator.

Predation

The combined killing and consumption of one organism by another. The definition of predation adopted here encompasses lethal parasitism as a sub-category of predation.

Prey preference

Predator behaviour that increases the probability of consuming some prey types relative to others when both are available as potential prey.

Prey quality

The potential nutritive value of a given prey to a given predator (may depend on ecological context), with all predation-related traits of the two parties considered.

Prey range

The set of microorganisms a given predator can consume as prey.

Prey-kinesis

Increased speed of predator movement in response to prey cues.

Prey-taxis

Directional movement of individual predators in response to prey cues.

Private–public handling gradient

The range of degrees to which diverse modes of handling prey result in prey nutrients becoming available to organisms other than the predator.

Searching (or foraging)

Predator behaviour that increases the likelihood of encountering prey.

Telebiotic handling

Release of diffusible compounds that kill (and potentially lyse) prey remotely; this term is proposed here for consistency with other handling terms.

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Vasse, M., Velicer, G.J. Predation in microbial communities: gradients of nutritive killing. Nat Rev Microbiol (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41579-026-01299-7

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