Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10216/104636
Author(s): Nuno F. Azevedo
Sofia M. Bragança
Lúcia C. Simões
Laura Cerqueira
Carina Almeida
Charles W. Keevil
Maria J. Vieira
Title: Proposal for a method to estimate nutrient shock effects in bacteria
Issue Date: 2012
Abstract: Background: Plating methods are still the golden standard in microbiology; however, some studies have shown that these techniques can underestimate the microbial concentrations and diversity. A nutrient shock is one of the mechanisms proposed to explain this phenomenon. In this study, a tentative method to assess nutrient shock effects was tested. Findings: To estimate the extent of nutrient shock effects, two strains isolated from tap water (Sphingomonas capsulata and Methylobacterium sp.) and two culture collection strains (E. coli CECT 434 and Pseudomonas fluorescens ATCC 13525) were exposed both to low and high nutrient conditions for different times and then placed in low nutrient medium (R2A) and rich nutrient medium (TSA). The average improvement (A.I.) of recovery between R2A and TSA for the different times was calculated to more simply assess the difference obtained in culturability between each medium. As expected, A.I. was higher when cells were plated after the exposition to water than when they were recovered from high-nutrient medium showing the existence of a nutrient shock for the diverse bacteria used. S. capsulata was the species most affected by this phenomenon. Conclusions: This work provides a method to consistently determine the extent of nutrient shock effects on different microorganisms and hence quantify the ability of each species to deal with sudden increases in substrate concentration. © 2012 Azevedo et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.
URI: https://repositorio-aberto.up.pt/handle/10216/104636
Related Information: info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia/Programa de Financiamento Plurianual de Unidades de I&D/FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-022677/PROJECTO ESTRATÉGICO - UI 511 - 2011-2012/PEst-C/EQB/UI0511/2011
Document Type: Artigo em Revista Científica Internacional
Rights: restrictedAccess
Appears in Collections:FEUP - Artigo em Revista Científica Internacional

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