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Hayward, CA – Biolog, Inc. has developed an automated
system for fingerprinting and tracking mixed cultures
of microbes from a variety of environmental samples.
The Release 4.01C MicroStationÔ and
MicroLog 3E allow the laboratorian to easily perform
microbial ecological analysis on soil, water,
and other samples. When the MicroLog Systems
are used in conjunction with the Biolog GN2, MT2,
EcoPlate, and MicroPlates,Ô
microbial community analysis and ecological studies
can be performed on virtually any environmental
sample. Biolog MicroPlates monitor cell respiration.
When a cell can utilize a nutrient present in
one of the 96 wells of the MicroPlate the organism
will begin to respire creating NADH. The production
of NADH by the cells reduces a tetrazolium dye
used in Biolog’s patented redox chemistry. The
microbes within the community will create characteristic
patterns within the wells of the MicroPlate.
These patterns are monitored over several days,
and evaluated using Biolog software.
Microbial communities provide useful data for
studying both applied and basic environmental
events. The Biolog EcoPlate was created specifically
for community analysis and microbial ecological
studies. It was designed at the request of a
group of microbial ecologists that wanted more
data replicates than the Biolog GN MicroPlate
provided. Microorganisms are present in virtually
all environments and are typically the first organisms
to react to chemical and physical changes in the
environment. Because they are at the bottom of
the food chain, changes in microbial communities
are often a precursor to changes in the health
and viability of the environment as a whole.
Community analysis using the Biolog MicroPlates,
was originally described in 1991 by J. Garland
and A. Mills. These researchers found that by
inoculating Biolog GN MicroPlates with a mixed
culture of microorganisms and measuring the community
fingerprint over time, they could ascertain characteristics
about that community of microbes. This approach
called community–level physiological profiling
has been demonstrated to be effective at distinguishing
spatial and temporal changes in microbial communities.
In applied ecological research, the MicroPlates
are used as both an assay of the stability of
a normal population and to detect and assess changes
based upon a variable introduced to the environment.
Studies demonstrating the utility of the Biolog
System and MicroPlates in detecting population
change have been done in soil, water, wastewater,
activated sludge, compost, and industrial waste.
The utility of the information using Biolog technology
to analyze microbial communities has been documented
in over 500 publications. A list of these publications
is posted in the Bibliography section of Biolog’s
website, www.biolog.com.
The MicroLog 3E is designed specifically for
microbial ecology analysis. The MicroStation
allows the laboratorian to also automatically
identify organisms isolated. The MicroStation
accomplishes this by interfacing to Biolog’s database
of over 1,400 species of bacteria and yeast.
For more information please call Biolog, Inc.
at 800-284-4949.
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