title: Sol-gel applications in environmental biotechnology.
abstract: Sol gel process was applied for three different applications in environmental biotechnology: (1) thin, fluorescein diacetate-doped sol-gel film made possible epifluorescent microscopic examination of adsorbed Escherichia coli CN13 cells without additional staining: (2) Thiobacillus thiooxidans cell-free extract entrapped into sol-gel matrix displayed oxidative activity on H2S in liquid medium; and (3) two media (E. coli (EC) and sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB)) were doped into sol-gel and used to enumerate environmental samples for E. coli and sulfate-reducing bacteria, by the most probable number (MPN) method. The comparison of the modified method with the standard enumeration method revealed very good correlation. The sol-gel MPN method is sensitive, saves times, and the substrate can be prepared and stored long-term at room temperature (up to 1 year).
authors.affiliation: Environmental and Water Resources Engineering Unit, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Haifa, Israel.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Armon
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Dosoretz
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Starosvetsky
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Orshansky
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Saadi
mesh_terms: D013856:Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans / Q000302:isolation & purification; D000327:Adsorption; D001709:Biotechnology / Q000379:methods*; D004783:Environmental Microbiology; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000302:isolation & purification; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005782:Gels; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence
chemical_list: D005782:Gels