Table 1 Bacterial strains used in this study

Escherichia coli S17-1 (used as prey to initially culture Bdellovibrio)

thi, pro, hsdR ⁻ , hsdM ⁺ , recA, integrated plasmid RP4-Tc::Mu-Kn::Tn7

[44]

Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus HD100

Type strain, genome sequenced

[29, 45]

Pseudomonas tolaasii 2192^T

Type strain, NCPPB No. 2192^T, brown blotch pathogen of mushrooms, acquired from RW Jackson (University of Reading)

[46]