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Updated: Jul 9, 2026

Determination of Microbial Extracellular Enzyme Activity in Waters, Soils, and Sediments using High Throughput Microplate Assays
Published on: October 1, 2013
Influence of nonylphenol on the microbial community of lake sediments in microcosms
M Jontofsohn1, M Stoffels, A Hartmann
1GSF--National Research Center for Environment and Health, Institute of Soil Ecology, Neuherberg, Germany.
Abstract:
In this study the impact of nonylphenol, an estrogenic degradation product of alkylphenol polyethoxylates, on the microbial community structure in contaminated sediments of aquatic microcosms using in situ hybridization with fluorescently labeled oligonucleotides probes was investigated. A positive correlation between nonylphenol concentration and cell numbers of bacteria and microfungi as well as an increase in the numbers of active bacteria was found. However, the ratio between total microorganisms and active bacteria remained unchanged. A large fraction of the cells could be identified using group specific oligonucleotide probes. A slight change in the composition of the microbial community structure was observed, with Gram-positive bacteria with high DNA G + C-content becoming more abundant at higher concentrations of nonylphenol.
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