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A Method Based on Artificial Substrates to Monitor Hyporheic Biofilm Development
Author(s) -
Claret Cecile
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
international review of hydrobiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.524
H-Index - 52
eISSN - 1522-2632
pISSN - 1434-2944
DOI - 10.1002/iroh.19980830204
Subject(s) - biofilm , riffle , sonication , hyporheic zone , bacteria , environmental science , colonization , substrate (aquarium) , chemistry , ecology , biology , environmental engineering , surface water , chromatography , genetics , habitat
A method based on artificial substrata is proposed to study hyporheic biofilm development as well as the procedure to remove bacteria from these biofilms. The device is a perforated pipe in which glass slides are introduced vertically. Attached bacteria are removed by sonication for 180 seconds at power 2 (arbitrary unit); longer sonication time or higher power can cause cell destruction. A bacterial colonization experiment was performed in an upwelling zone of a riffle in the Rhǒne River. Total bacterial abundances reached a steady‐state after 5 days of colonization, and the percentage of ETS‐active bacteria was maximal after 3 days of incubation in the bed sediments. These results validate this device as usable to monitor biofilm development in natural systems, making this method as a promising tool to characterize the trophic status of a stream using integrative biological descriptors.