Growth measurements of terrestrial microbial species by a continuous-flow technique |
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Authors: | Charles W. Hendricks Eldor A. Paul Paul D. Brooks |
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Affiliation: | (1) Present address: Environmental Research Laboratory, US Environmental Protection Agency, 97333 Corvallis, OR, USA;(2) Present address: Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, Michigan State University, 48824 East Lansing, MI, USA;(3) Department of Plant and Soil Biology, University of California, 94720 Berkeley, CA, USA |
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Abstract: | A continuous nutrient flow system has been developed to measure microbial activity in soil with various concentrations of added substrate. The system consists of a thin soil layer through which substrate was added continuously over periods up to 4.5 days. Substrate utilization was determined by effluent analysis. Respiration was measured manually by injecting a sample into a gas chromatograph or automatically by coupling the growth chamber to a computer-controlled gas sampling valve. This permitted respiratory CO2 to be measured by the gas chromatograph at intervals selected by the investigator. Software controlling the valve and gas chromatograph not only automated gas phase sampling, but also provided a scan of CO2 evolution and a preliminary data summary. This included the date and time of sample, peak height, and percent CO2 in the gas phase. Data for growth on glucose using a microbial population native to a California annual grassland soil demonstrated that the direct cell count and respiratory techniques for biomass estimation give comparable results. This procedure provides the potential for detailed analyses of substrate utilization in studies of the growth and maintenance of soil microorganisms. |
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Keywords: | biomass CO2 measurement continuous-flow fungi glucose utilization microbial growth respiration soil bacteria |
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