AEM
Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Glavin, D. P.
Right arrow Articles by Bada, J. L.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Glavin, D. P.
Right arrow Articles by Bada, J. L.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by Glavin, D. P.
Right arrow Articles by Bada, J. L.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, October 2004, p. 5923-5928, Vol. 70, No. 10
0099-2240/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.70.10.5923-5928.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

New Method for Estimating Bacterial Cell Abundances in Natural Samples by Use of Sublimation

Daniel P. Glavin,1* H. James Cleaves,2 Michael Schubert,3 Andrew Aubrey,2 and Jeffrey L. Bada2

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland,1 Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, California,2 ENS de Lyon, LBMC, CNRS-UMR5161, Lyon, France3

Received 13 May 2004/ Accepted 18 June 2004

We have developed a new method based on the sublimation of adenine from Escherichia coli to estimate bacterial cell counts in natural samples. To demonstrate this technique, several types of natural samples, including beach sand, seawater, deep-sea sediment, and two soil samples from the Atacama Desert, were heated to a temperature of 500°C for several seconds under reduced pressure. The sublimate was collected on a cold finger, and the amount of adenine released from the samples was then determined by high-performance liquid chromatography with UV absorbance detection. Based on the total amount of adenine recovered from DNA and RNA in these samples, we estimated bacterial cell counts ranging from ~105 to 109 E. coli cell equivalents per gram. For most of these samples, the sublimation-based cell counts were in agreement with total bacterial counts obtained by traditional DAPI (4,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole) staining.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Atmospheric Experiment Branch, Code 915, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771. Phone: (301) 614-6361. Fax: (301) 614-6406. E-mail: daniel.p.glavin{at}nasa.gov.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, October 2004, p. 5923-5928, Vol. 70, No. 10
0099-2240/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.70.10.5923-5928.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:



Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
J. Bacteriol. Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. Eukaryot. Cell All ASM Journals

Copyright © 2004 by the American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.