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Flow Cytometric Determination of Microbial Abundances and Its Use to Obtain Indices of Community Structure and Relative Activity

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Hydrocarbon and Lipid Microbiology Protocols

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Abstract

Determination of the abundances of aquatic microbes (i.e., oxygenic and anoxygenic phototrophic and heterotrophic prokaryotes, small phototrophic and heterotrophic eukaryotes and viruses) is nowadays relatively straightforward with the use of flow cytometry. In addition, the technique can be used to test for relative differences in the activity or physiological state of some of these microbial groups, and several indices of community structure can be derived from community composition and flow cytometric signal variability. The technique is sometimes also useful to determine the presence of nonliving organic and inorganic substances and their interaction with the microbes. Here, we provide comprehensive guidance in the use of flow cytometry for these purposes and finally illustrate the usefulness of some of these approaches with data generated in an experiment in which we added oil from a tanker spill to a coastal bacterioplankton community.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut de Ciències del Mar-CSIC, Pg. Marítim Barceloneta 37-49, 08003, Barcelona, Catalunya, Spain

    Josep M. Gasol

  2. Division of Biological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Red Sea Research Center, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal, 23955-6500, Saudi Arabia

    Xosé Anxelu G. Morán

Authors
  1. Josep M. Gasol
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  2. Xosé Anxelu G. Morán
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Correspondence to Josep M. Gasol .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Biological Sciences, University of Essex, Colchester, Essex, UK

    Terry J. McGenity

  2. Institute of Microbiology, Technical University Braunschweig, Braunschweig, Germany

    Kenneth N. Timmis

  3. Department of Biology, University of the Balearic Islands and Mediterranean Institute for Advanced Studies (IMEDEA, UIB-CSIC), Palma de Mallorca, Spain

    Balbina Nogales

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Gasol, J.M., Morán, X.A.G. (2015). Flow Cytometric Determination of Microbial Abundances and Its Use to Obtain Indices of Community Structure and Relative Activity. In: McGenity, T.J., Timmis, K.N., Nogales, B. (eds) Hydrocarbon and Lipid Microbiology Protocols. Springer Protocols Handbooks. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/8623_2015_139

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/8623_2015_139

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-662-49129-4

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