USE OF SPECIES DISTRIBUTION DATA IN THE DETERMINATION OF BACTERIAL VIABILITY BY EXTINCTION CULTURE OF AQUATIC BACTERIA

We show that bacterial viability can be calculated from the number of species arising in cultures comprised of seawater diluted to near exti nction of the propagating organisms. Natural conditions are simulated by partitioning the culture against illuminated raw seawater to mainta in a source of nutrients and a sink for waste products, and predators are eliminated by dilution to a statistical absence. Mean values for v iability can be corrected for contaminants that may enter the culture by computing their probable entrance frequency as well. Viability dete rminations were found to be mildly sensitive to the number of species estimated to be present in the original sample. This novel procedure p rovides a significant improvement in the cultivation success of typica l marine bacteria, and the formulations presented here lay the foundat ion for the quantitative analysis of the population structure. (C) 199 8 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.