Stereological assessment of extracellular polymeric substances, exo-enzymes, and specific bacterial strains in bioaggregates using fluorescence experiments

Abstract

This review addresses the introduction of fluorescent molecular tags into exo-enzymes and extra polymeric substances of bioaggregates and the use of confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) to map their role, purpose and quantitative description of the biological processes they undertake. Multiple color staining coupled with CLSM and fluorescent in situ hybridisation (FISH) and flow cytometry have identified the individual polymeric substances, whether they are proteins, lipids, polysaccharides, nucleic acids or antibodies, as well as the microorganisms in the bioaggregate. Procedures are presented for simultaneous multicolor staining with seven different fluorochromes - SYTOX Blue for nucleic acids; Nile red for lipids; Calcofluor white [CW] for beta-polysaccharides; concanavalin A [Con A] for alpha-poly-saccharides; fluorescein-isothiocyanate [FITC] for proteins; SYTO 63 for live microbial cells and Calcium Green for monitoring calcium levels in the microbial cells. For the distribution of certain microbial strains, metabolic enzymes and extrapolymeric substances to be quantitatively described the generated colored images are converted into digital forms under specific predefined criteria. Procedures and computer software programs (Amira; MATLAB) are presented in order to quantitatively establish grid patterns from the CLSM images. The image is digitized using a threshholding algorithm followed by a reconstruction of the image as a volumetric grid for finite element simulation. The original color image is first converted to a grey followed by resizing, detection and modification of bilevel images and finally a total reversal of the image colors. The grid file is then used by specific computer software (Gambit, Fluent) for further numerical studies incorporating chemical reactions, transport processes and computational fluid dynamics including intra-bioaggregate fluid flow, and heat and mass transfer within the bioaggregate matrix.