A Comparison of the Microbial Populations in a Culture-Dependent and a Culture-Independent Analysis of Industrial Water Samples

Culture-dependent and culture-independent microbiological methods are two approaches used to study microbial community composition. Culture-dependent methods have been the standard method used for many years but have limited utility with unculturable microorganisms. Culture-independent methods, including molecular techniques, enable direct analysis of microbial DNA without requiring cultivation. Both culture-dependent and -independent methods have roles in advancing our understanding of microbiology, and a combination of these approaches often yields a comprehensive depiction of the microbial diversity within a dynamic system. Bacterial activity reaction tests (BARTs) are a common culture-dependent test used to identify bacteria growing in industrial water samples. In this study, next-generation sequencing (NGS) was used to identify the taxa growing in BARTs and compared with the BART reaction patterns. Additionally, several water samples were analyzed by both BART and NGS analysis to determine whether the bacteria found in the water were also present in the BARTs. The results showed overall agreement between NGS and BARTs, though, in some cases, the most abundant taxa found in the water samples differed from those in the BARTs. This highlights the need for further study into the microbial community dynamics of culture-dependent tests to determine whether they are representative of the original sample.