Adaptation of a rapid and economical microcentrifugation method to measure thymidine and leucine incorporation by soil bacteria

TY - JOUR

T1 - Adaptation of a rapid and economical microcentrifugation method to measure thymidine and leucine incorporation by soil bacteria

AU - Bååth, Erland

AU - Pettersson, Marie

AU - Söderberg, Katarina

PY - 2001

Y1 - 2001

N2 - A simplified method using centrifugation and microcentrifuge tubes instead of filtration to measure bacterial activity using thymidine or leucine incorporation, originally used in aquatic habitats, has been adapted for soil. A final step employing hot NaOH to solubilize macromolecules before adding scintillation fluid was necessary to achieve the same incorporation rates as those in the filtration technique. The microcentrifugation technique has several advantages, including being less costly, less laborious and having lower zero-time controls. The samples could also be stored for at least 2 weeks after incorporation was stopped by adding TCA. The microcentrifugation technique would therefore be most useful when a large number of samples, some with very low incorporation rates, are to be studied, for example, when studying bacterial community tolerance. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

AB - A simplified method using centrifugation and microcentrifuge tubes instead of filtration to measure bacterial activity using thymidine or leucine incorporation, originally used in aquatic habitats, has been adapted for soil. A final step employing hot NaOH to solubilize macromolecules before adding scintillation fluid was necessary to achieve the same incorporation rates as those in the filtration technique. The microcentrifugation technique has several advantages, including being less costly, less laborious and having lower zero-time controls. The samples could also be stored for at least 2 weeks after incorporation was stopped by adding TCA. The microcentrifugation technique would therefore be most useful when a large number of samples, some with very low incorporation rates, are to be studied, for example, when studying bacterial community tolerance. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

U2 - 10.1016/S0038-0717(01)00073-6

DO - 10.1016/S0038-0717(01)00073-6

M3 - Article

VL - 33

SP - 1571

EP - 1574

JO - Soil Biology & Biochemistry

JF - Soil Biology & Biochemistry

SN - 0038-0717

IS - 11

ER -