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Atp Luminescence Assay As A Bioburden Estimator Of Biomass Accumulation In Caves, Janez Mulec, Andreea Oarga-Mulec
Atp Luminescence Assay As A Bioburden Estimator Of Biomass Accumulation In Caves, Janez Mulec, Andreea Oarga-Mulec
International Journal of Speleology
A commercially available adenosine triphosphate (ATP) detection system (Hygiena, USA), supported by cultivable microbial indicators, was used to estimate bioburden in different habitats in and outside show caves: air, water and solid surfaces. A strong positive correlation between ATP concentration expressed as Relative Light Units (RLU) and Colony-Forming-Units (CFU) was observed for swab samples from cave surfaces. In terms of ATP units, surfaces in a single cave system (Postojna Cave) varied considerably (240-1,258,800 RLU/ 20 cm2) and commonly exceeded the bioburden level of analogues on the surface (0-114,390 RLU/ 20 cm2). Cave sub-habitats were colonized by …