Previous Article | Next Article ![]()
Applied and Environmental Microbiology, October 1999, p. 4419-4424, Vol. 65, No. 10
National Institute for Resources and
Environment, Onogawa 16-3, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8569, Japan
Received 2 April 1999/Accepted 9 August 1999
A new approach to the community-level BIOLOG assay was proposed.
This assay, which we call the BIOLOG-MPN assay, is a
most-probable-number (MPN) assay that uses BIOLOG plates and multiple
sole carbon sources, and the profiles obtained by this assay consist of
MPNs estimated for the substrates in the BIOLOG plates. In order to
demonstrate the performance of the BIOLOG-MPN assay, it was applied to
pure cultures, model bacterial communities that contain two strains in
different ratios, and microbial community samples. MPN estimation using
BIOLOG plates worked well for the substrates on which utilizers can
grow at a sufficiently high rate for color development under the
conditions of the assay procedure. Furthermore, the results obtained
using model communities showed that the MPNs obtained reflected the
mixing ratios of pure cultures in the model communities. The profiles
obtained using model communities and community samples were
differentiated properly by statistical analyses. The results suggest
that the BIOLOG-MPN assay is a promising procedure for obtaining a
quantitative picture of the community structure.
0099-2240/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
A Method of Profiling Microbial Communities Based
on a Most-Probable-Number Assay That Uses BIOLOG Plates and
Multiple Sole Carbon Sources
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: National
Institute for Resources and Environment, Onogawa 16-3, Tsukuba, Ibaraki
305-8569, Japan. Phone and fax: 81-298-58-8315. E-mail:
magamo{at}nire.go.jp.
This article has been cited by other articles:
| J. Bacteriol. | Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. | Eukaryot. Cell | All ASM Journals |
|---|