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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 61(3)

Is cotton-strip tensile strength a surrogate for microbial activity in groundwater?

M. J. Lategan A B D F , K. Korbel B E and G. C. Hose C D E
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Centre for Environmental Sustainability, University of Technology, PO Box 123, Broadway, Sydney, NSW 2007, Australia.

B Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Technology, PO Box 123, Broadway, Sydney, NSW 2007, Australia.

C Departments of Biological Sciences & Environment and Geography, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia.

D CRC for Contamination Assessment & Remediation of the Environment, P.O. Box 486, Salisbury South, SA 5106, Australia.

E Cotton Catchment Communities CRC, Australian Cotton Research Institute, Locked Bag 1001, Narrabri, NSW 2390, Australia.

F Corresponding author. Email: maria.lategan@uts.edu.au

Marine and Freshwater Research 61(3) 351-356 https://doi.org/10.1071/MF09144
Submitted: 18 June 2009  Accepted: 6 September 2009   Published: 29 March 2010

Abstract

The cotton strip assay uses the loss of tensile strength of cotton strips as a measure of microbial cellulolytic activity. Its suitability for measuring general microbial activity in groundwater was tested by examining the relationship of tensile strength, abundance of cellulolytic organisms and general microbial activity on cotton strips deployed in bores. The hypothesis was that the strength of cotton strips would decline with increasing abundance and activity of cellulolytic organisms, and as cellulolysis makes resources available to other microbial groups, cotton strength loss should also be related to increased overall microbial activity. The correlation between the abundance of cellulolytic organisms and cotton strength was not significant. Two main factors influenced this relationship: (i) effectiveness of the media in detecting cellulolytic moulds and (ii) inter-community interactions. After accounting for the presence of moulds through partial correlation, the relationship between tensile strength and abundance of cellulolytic organisms was stronger and significant. Both cotton strength and abundance of cellulolytic organisms correlated significantly with general microbial activity. These results support the use of the cotton strip assay, and cotton tensile strength as a surrogate for microbial activity in groundwater.

Additional keywords: aquifers, fluorescein diacetate.


Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge Kerrie Hannigan and Norman Booth for technical support. We thank Ipek Kurtboke, Queensland University, for guidance in the isolation of cellulolytic organisms from environmental samples. We also thank Peter Hancock for suggesting the use of cotton strips for detecting microbial activity in aquifers and Andrew Boulton for comments on the manuscript. M.J.L. was supported by CRC CARE. K.K. was supported by Cotton Catchment Communities CRC. We are grateful to NSW Department of Water and Energy, particularly Stuart Matthews, for access to monitoring bores. Water samples were kindly analysed by the NSW Department of Water and Energy Analytical Laboratory. The authors thank Matthew Slocum and an anonymous reviewer for their constructive comments.


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