Final published version
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Nucleic acid-based fluorescent probes in microbial ecology
T2 - Application of flow cytometry
AU - Porter, Jonathan
AU - Pickup, Roger W.
PY - 2000/9/30
Y1 - 2000/9/30
N2 - Microorganisms in natural environments have often been treated as 'black box' systems. Researchers have measured the inputs and outputs of the box, and have made bulk measurements on cell behaviour. However, unravelling the details of the diversity and interactions that exist within these microbial populations has proven exceptionally difficult. The information gained from the black box approach has been invaluable, and has allowed models of global foodwebs to be generated and tested. However, there is still little information about the interactions of individual microbial cells within natural populations. Such studies are essential to fully understand the integrated functioning of ecosystems. To achieve this goal, researchers need to be able to identify individual cells within a population, enumerate them, estimate both viability and activity, and monitor changes in response to relevant parameters. Due to the diversity, heterogeneity and numbers of cells that make up these populations, these measurements require automation and speed. At present, the use of flow cytometry in conjunction with nucleic acid probes provides an excellent method with which to pursue such studies. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V.
AB - Microorganisms in natural environments have often been treated as 'black box' systems. Researchers have measured the inputs and outputs of the box, and have made bulk measurements on cell behaviour. However, unravelling the details of the diversity and interactions that exist within these microbial populations has proven exceptionally difficult. The information gained from the black box approach has been invaluable, and has allowed models of global foodwebs to be generated and tested. However, there is still little information about the interactions of individual microbial cells within natural populations. Such studies are essential to fully understand the integrated functioning of ecosystems. To achieve this goal, researchers need to be able to identify individual cells within a population, enumerate them, estimate both viability and activity, and monitor changes in response to relevant parameters. Due to the diversity, heterogeneity and numbers of cells that make up these populations, these measurements require automation and speed. At present, the use of flow cytometry in conjunction with nucleic acid probes provides an excellent method with which to pursue such studies. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V.
KW - Flow cytometry
KW - Gene expression
KW - In situ measurements
KW - Molecular probes
KW - Specific detection
U2 - 10.1016/S0167-7012(00)00178-0
DO - 10.1016/S0167-7012(00)00178-0
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 11000433
AN - SCOPUS:0033800403
VL - 42
SP - 75
EP - 79
JO - Journal of Microbiological Methods
JF - Journal of Microbiological Methods
SN - 0167-7012
IS - 1
ER -