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Molecular Methods for the Identification and Enumeration of Bioleaching Microorganisms

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Biomining

Part of the book series: Biotechnology Intelligence Unit ((BIOIU))

Abstract

Microbial ecology requires that the microorganisms of a given ecosystem be identified in situ, and that their spatial and temporal distribution be known. The classical approach to enumerate the microorganisms in environmental samples has been the plating technique combined with a simultaneous or subsequent differentiation of the isolates based on physiological and biochemical properties. However, all techniques relying on cultivation are time-consuming. In addition, the failure of many bacteria to form colonies is a widely acknowledged problem when using plate counting procedures. Often the number of colony forming units is only a minor fraction of the cell counts determined by direct microscopic procedures. Therefore, only a small percentage (less than 20%) of the microorganisms within autochtonous communities is known.1–5 Additional problems are found with the determination of the population dynamics since most microbial communities include not only planktonic or free-living microorganisms, but also biofilms, sediments and particulates.1 ,4 ,5

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Authors
  1. Carlos A. Jerez
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Microbiology, University of Cape Town, 7700, Rondebosch, South Africa

    Douglas E. Rawlings

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© 1997 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Jerez, C.A. (1997). Molecular Methods for the Identification and Enumeration of Bioleaching Microorganisms. In: Rawlings, D.E. (eds) Biomining. Biotechnology Intelligence Unit. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-06111-4_14

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-06111-4_14

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-662-06113-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-662-06111-4

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