FIG. 2.

Schematic drawing of a molecular approach involving BrdU immunocapture, T-RFLP, and clone libraries suitable for the evaluation of specific stabilization/sanitization procedures involving stimulation/inhibition of individual bacterial species. By comparing the BrdU-labeled (actively growing) bacterial fraction with the total fraction of the same community, it is possible to separate actively responding bacteria from those that have either been killed during specific treatments or are at least resting (viable but nonculturable). The proposed set of methods should provide invaluable information on the development and optimization of new stabilization/sanitization procedures and allow the rapid and sensitive determination of microbial sludge quality.