Inadequacy of the eucaryote inhibitor cycloheximide in studies of protozoan grazing on bacteria at the freshwater-sediment interface.

Four guilds from a lake sediment-water interface microbial community were isolated and tested for sensitivity to cycloheximide (0.1 to 200 mg liter). Field experiments were conducted to compare the inhibition, dilution, and filtration methods for determining grazing rates. Cycloheximide inhibited anaerobic bacteria at 50 mg liter, and inhibition of bacterial growth was observed in the grazing experiments. The results show that the assumption of selective inhibition of heterotrophic eucaryotes was violated and preclude the use of cycloheximide in grazing experiments.