RECENT ADVANCES OF FLOW-CYTOMETRY IN FUNDAMENTAL AND APPLIED MICROBIOLOGY

This review focuses on the recent applications of flow cytometry (FCM) in microbiological research (1987-mid 1992). It tries to give a scope of the important breakthroughs which occurred in this field during th is period. The technical difficulties of microorganism analysis by flo w cytometry is briefly appraised. The significance and the limits of t he different microbial cell parameters attainable by flow analyses are systematically evaluated: light scatter for cell size and structure, fluorescence measurements for quantification of cellular components, m icrobial antigen detection and cell physiological activity estimation. Emphasis is given on the new technological advances which appeared in the last two years. The second part of the review is devoted to the a nalysis of the usefulness of flow cytometric approach in the different fields of microbiology: fundamental studies in microbial physiology, differentiation, microbial ecology and aquatic sciences, medical micro biology, parasitology, microbial pharmacology and biotechnology.