Application of Fluorescence Markers for the Diagnosis of Bacterial Abundance and Viability in Aquatic Ecosystem

Abstract

Application of modern microbial diagnostics based on fluorosensors is very crucial to investigate bacteria from natural samples (aquatic as well as transparent biofilms on material surfaces). This method allows researcher to fast recognize the existence of the invisibly small bacteria, to differentiate between live and dead cells as well as active and inactive cells in situ. This paper wanted to elaborate and discuss several perspectives on the usage of different types of fluorescent markers, e.g. redox sensitive, nucleic acid stains with different membrane permeability to natural bacterial assemblages as well as bacterial strains isolated from aquatic samples as a tool to differentiate living, act ive from dead or inactive bacteria.