Physiological and immunological methods Flashcards
What are Activity measurements
estimates of the physiological reactions occuring
what do activity measurements help define?
the structure and function of the microbioal ecosystem
what does HPLC stand for
high-pressure liquid chromatography
what happens in HPLC
sample is dissolved and forced under pressure through a column packed with a stationary material
what is respiration
consumption of O2 or electron pair acceptor
what is biochemical oxygen demand
measures the amount of organic matter that can be oxidized by the microbes present in the water
what is BOD used for
to track the reduction of organic and inorganic materials in wastewater by treatment facilities
What is chemical oxygen demand
strong oxidizer oxidizes the organic matter into CO2
What is COD used for?
rapid measure of water quality
what is microcosm?
a sample is typically incubated in a sealed, airtight enclosure
What are two ways CO2 and O2 are measured
-samples are drawn using a gastight syringe and injected into a gas chromatograph
-trap CO2 produced in a trap with solution of NaOH
What are some difficulties when measuring respiration in soils and sediments using a respiration chamber with an infrared gas analyzer?
variation of soil moisture, temp, etc
also hard to separate the contributions of heterotrophic bacteria and plant roots
what do extracellular enzymes do?
break down N-, P- or S- containing organic compounds
What are microsensors?
glass needles containing a sensing mechanism that allow to measure many chemical species including pH, O2, NO2-, NO3-, N2O, CO2, H2 and H2S
True or false: Microsensors can only measure one analyte in a microbial habitat
false; they can simultaneously measure several
Why can NO3- not be measured electrochemically in seawater?
high concentrations of salts