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Updated: May 6, 2026

Isolation, Propagation, and Identification of Bacterial Species with Hydrocarbon Metabolizing Properties from Aquatic Habitats
Published on: December 7, 2021
Physiological characterization of heterotrophic bacterial communities from selected aquatic environments
M Gehlen1, H J Trampisch, W Dott
1Hygiene Institute of the University of Bonn, Klinikgelände 35, 5300, Bonn 1, FRG.
Abstract:
Three different biotopes, groundwater, surface water, and activated sludge, were examined and the total colony count on nutrient agar determined. The bacteria that could be isolated from the agar plates were identified and their in vitro activities investigated. Three principal approaches were used: (1) isolates were identified and the results used in a numerical analysis to determine their similarity; (2) the different physiological properties of isolates originating from a single biotope were compiled and used to characterize the community (collective total activity); and (3) the diversity of the physiological properties of the isolates of all populations was determined; on the basis of main characters a "heterotrophic" diversity index was calculated. The possibility of using a polyphasic ecological study to characterize aquatic bacterial communities is considered.
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