Scaling down the analysis of environmental processes: Monitoring: Enzyme activity in natural substrates on a millimeter: Resolution scale

Abstract

Natural environments often show high levels of spatial heterogeneity. With a methodology based on the immobilization of fluorescent substrates, the distribution of extracellular enzymes can be studied at a 2.3-mm resolution with a detection limit of 1.8 nmol h-1cm-2. The method is applicable to environmental samples such as wood, litter, soil, or fungal colonies. © 2012, American Society for Microbiology.