Bacterial starvation-survival and a method to determine carbon utilisationby soil micro-organisms (famine or feast)

Bacteria are ubiquitous in the natural environment, even when nutrients are limiting and they are in a physiological state of starvation-survival. How bacterial cells survive for extended periods of time when the nutrients an d energy needed for growth and cell division are insufficient is examined. A method for determining carbon utilisation patterns in soil extracts is in cluded. This determines the diverse range of carbon substrates metabolised by soil microorganisms when they are extracted from soil samples and incuba ted under conditions suitable for rapid metabolism. This practical also hig hlights the diversity of carbon substrate utilisation in environmental soil samples.