Comparison of Fluorescence Microscopy and Solid-Phase Cytometry Methods for Counting Bacteria in Water

摘要: Total direct counts of bacterial abundance are central in assessing the biomass and bacteriological quality water ecological industrial applications. Several factors have been identified that contribute to variability when using fluorescent microscopy, most significant which is retaining an adequate number cells per filter ensure acceptable level statistical confidence resulting data. Previous studies assessed components total-direct-count methods this variance attempted maintain a cell value approximately 10(6) filter(-1). In study we established lower limit for at reliability estimate no longer acceptable. Our results indicate numbers were progressively reduced below 10(5), microscopic increasingly overestimated true (range, 15.0 99.3%). The solid-phase cytometer only slightly abundances was more consistent over same range 8.9 12.5%). method conducting total bacteria less biased performed significantly better than any microscope methods. It also found count data from counting 5 fields on three separate filters statistically equivalent 20 single filter.