A1 Journal article (refereed)
Comparison of epifluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry in counting freshwater picophytoplankton (2021)
Salmi, P., Mäki, A., Mikkonen, A., Pupponen, V.-M., Vuorio, K., & Tiirola, M. (2021). Comparison of epifluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry in counting freshwater picophytoplankton. Boreal Environment Research, 26, 17-27. http://www.borenv.net/BER/archive/pdfs/ber26/ber26-017-027.pdf
JYU authors or editors
Publication details
All authors or editors: Salmi, Pauliina; Mäki, Anita; Mikkonen, Anu; Pupponen, Veli-Mikko; Vuorio, Kristiina; Tiirola, Marja
Journal or series: Boreal Environment Research
ISSN: 1239-6095
eISSN: 1797-2469
Publication year: 2021
Volume: 26
Pages range: 17-27
Publisher: Suomen ympäristökeskus
Publication country: Finland
Publication language: English
Persistent website address: http://www.borenv.net/BER/archive/pdfs/ber26/ber26-017-027.pdf
Research data link: http://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:jyu-201911084794
Publication open access: Openly available
Publication channel open access: Open Access channel
Publication is parallel published (JYX): https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/76018
Abstract
The smaller the phytoplankton, the greater effort is required to distinguish individual cells by optics-based methods. Flow cytometry is widely applied in marine picophytoplankton research, but in freshwater research its role has remained minor. We compared epifluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry in assessing the composition, abundance and cell sizes of autofluorescent picophytoplankton in epilimnia of 46 Finnish lakes. Phycocyaninrich picocyanobacteria were the most dominant. The two methods yielded comparable total picophytoplankton abundances, but the determination of cell sizes, and thus total biomasses, were on average an order of magnitude higher in the microscopy results. However, flow cytometry yielded higher cell sizes when applied on small-celled cultured algae. Our study demonstrated that both epifluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry are useful methods in assessing abundances of phycocyanin-rich and phycoerythrin-rich picocyanobacteria and eukaryotic picophytoplankton in lakes. However, accurate determination of cell size and biomass remain challenges for microscopy and especially for flow cytometry.
Keywords: plankton; cyanobacteria; microalgae; microscopy; fluorescence microscopy; biomass (ecology); calculation models
Contributing organizations
Related projects
- Micro-RIP Functional analysis of uncultivated microbes using radioisotope probing
- Tiirola, Marja
- European Commission
Related research datasets
Ministry reporting: Yes
Reporting Year: 2021
JUFO rating: 1