OBJECTIVES This study was designed to determine the role of flushing dental water lines for the removal of heterotrophic plate count bacteria, Legionella spp., and free-living protozoa. METHODS Forty dental offices were surveyed in the study. An initial sample and a sample taken after three minutes of flushing were obtained from the air/water syringe at each location. All samples were quantit...

It is frequently presumed that heterotrophic bacteria from aquatic environments have low carbon (C) content, high phosphorus (P) content, and maintain homeostasis at low C:P in their biomass. Dissolved and particulate organic matter from primary producers in terrestrial and aquatic environments typically has high C:P ratios, suggesting that heterotrophic bacteria consuming this resource experie...

Selected microbial parameters were monitored in sediments from a pristine and an oil-field salt marsh. Although numbers of hydrocarbonoclastic bacteria and fungi were significantly greater in the oil field, the values did not show a strong correlation with levels of hydrocarbons (r = 0.43 and r = 0.49, respectively). However, a high correlation was noted between ratios of hydrocarbonoclastic an...

Measurements of uptake and mineralization of 14C-labeled glycolic acid by freshwater heterotrophs showed that respiration (mineralization) accounts for 69% of total uptake, and that the heterotrophic potential ( V,,,,, ) for glycolate is comparable with that for other commonly used substrates. Bacteria cultured from lake water showed uptake and mineralization patterns similar to those from the ...

Counting bacteria in natural water samples by cultivation yields only low recovery efficiencies (ca. 1%), compared to total counts obtained after 4,6-diamidino-2-phenylindol (DAPI) staining. In order to optimize the cultivation of heterotrophic planktonic bacteria from Lake Constance (Germany), selected parameters of the medium composition were modified. The most important factor was the concen...

A new solid medium is described for growing iron and heterotrophic bacteria from acid mine drainage (AMD). Examination of AMD from five states revealed several kinds of colonies of iron-oxidizing bacteria: (i) smooth, (ii) smooth with secondary growth sectors or branching, (iii) star-shaped, (iv) radiating lobe, and (v) flat-rough. All AMD samples yielded whitish colonies that could not use fer...

This study presents results of research on a number of microorganisms in soil of the Chełmżyńskie lake watershed and their role in the decomposition of chitin. The authors also examined the level of respiration activity of soil in the presence of shrimp waste. Results demonstrate that the number of microorganisms in soil were variable. During the entire research period, the analyzed groups of m...

Mangroves are highly productive marine ecosystems where bacteria (culturable and non-culturable) actively participate in biomineralization of organic matter and biotransformation of minerals. This study explores spatial and seasonal fluctuations of culturable heterotrophic bacteria and Vibrio spp. in the sediments of an intact mangrove ecosystem and determines the dominant environmental factors...

background bacterium-bacterium antagonistic interactions could be important in the ecology of marine bacteria. antimicrobial properties of microorganisms are exploited in various fields of human activities. objectives antagonism of heterotrophic bacteria from different marine environments of tropical and temperate zones was examined. materials and methods bacteria were isolated from biofilm sam...