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Combined autoradiography and immunofluorescence for estimation of single cell activity by ammonium‐oxidizing bacteria 1, 2
Author(s) -
Ward B. B.
Publication year - 1984
Publication title -
limnology and oceanography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.7
H-Index - 197
eISSN - 1939-5590
pISSN - 0024-3590
DOI - 10.4319/lo.1984.29.2.0402
Subject(s) - ammonium , bacterioplankton , oxidizing agent , photic zone , autotroph , seawater , relative species abundance , in situ , oxygen , chemistry , bacteria , biology , environmental chemistry , abundance (ecology) , ecology , phytoplankton , nutrient , genetics , organic chemistry
Immunofluorescence and 14 CO 2 autoradiography were used for simultaneously enumerating and assaying the autotrophic activity of ammonium‐oxidizing bacteria in seawater. Relative activity ( 14 CO 2 assimilation as measured by autoradiography) and abundance were measured in simulated in situ incubations at seven stations in the primary NO 2 ‒ maximum region of the Northeast Pacific Ocean. More than 10 4 cells· liter were present; relative activity often showed a peak near the surface and an increase in the NO 2 ‒ max region below the photic zone. The method permits assessment of individual cell activity; most cells at all depths were active in CO 2 assimilation, usually at low and quite variable levels. There were no differences in relative activity between samples incubated under simulated in situ conditions and in the dark. Relative activity was positively correlated with the abundance of ammonium‐oxidizing bacteria, temperature, total dark CO 2 assimilation (as measured by liquid scintillation counting of replicate samples), and pheopigment concentration, and negatively correlated with oxygen concentration.