Abstract
River-water extracellular-enzyme activity in the lowland Rivers Ouse and Derwent, northeast England, had much in common. In both rivers, the mean enzyme activities over 15 months differed in the following order: leucine aminopeptidase > phosphatase > β-D-glucosidase > β-D-galactosi-idase and β-D-xylosidase. None of the five enzymes assayed had significant between-river difference in activity, and there was significant between-river correlation of β-D-glucosidase, phosphatase, and leucine-aminopeptidase activity. The common enzyme regimes were probably more due to between-river similarity of planktonic microbiota than to similar physico-chemical conditions. The potential for glucose uptake by bacterioplankton closely followed β-D-glucosidase activity in magnitude and periodicity. The potential for leucine uptake, however, was much less than leucine-aminopeptidase activity; hence rate of leucine release probably did not limit leucine uptake. There was an appreciable and highly variable proportion of free (<0.2 μm) enzyme activity in river water; ranges were β-D-glucosidase 10–30%, phosphatase 53% to apparently 104%, and leucine aminopeptidase 22–98%. These free enzymes did not necessarily originate from planktonic microbiota and may explain the fairly loose coupling between whole-water enzyme activity and microbial variables. Marked downstream increase in enzyme activity, along about 104 km of the River Derwent, was found on only one of three sampling days; hence the single site used for regular sampling was reasonably representative of most of the river.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Admiraal W, Tubbing GMJ (1991) Extracellular enzyme activity associated with suspended matter in the River Rhine. Freshwater Biol 26:507–517
Boon PI (1990) Organic matter degradation and nutrient regeneration in Australian fresh waters. II. Spatial and temporal variation, and relation with environmental conditions. Arch Hydrobiol 117:405–436
Boon PI (1993) Organic matter degradation and nutrient regeneration in Australian fresh waters. III. Size fractionation of phosphatase activity. Arch Hydrobiol 126:339–360
Carr OJ, Goulder R (1990) Fish-farm effluents in rivers. I. Effects on bacterial populations and alkaline phosphatase activity. Water Res 24:631–638
Carr OJ, Goulder R (1993) Directly counted bacteria in a trout farm and its effluent. Aquacult Fish Manage 24:19–27
Chappell KR, Goulder R (1992) Epilithic extracellular enzyme activity in acid and calcareous headstreams. Arch Hydrobiol 125:129–148
Chappell KR, Goulder R (1994) Seasonal variation of epilithic extracellular enzyme activity in three diverse headstreams. Arch Hydrobiol 130:195–214
Chappell KR, Goulder R (1994) Enzymes as river pollutants and the response of native epilithic extracellular-enzyme activity. Environ Pollut 86:161–169
Chróst RJ (1989) Characterization and significance of β-glucosidase activity in lake water. Limnol Oceanogr 34:660–672
Chróst RJ (1991) Environmental control of the synthesis and activity of aquatic microbial ectoenzymes. In: Chróst RJ (ed) Microbial enzymes in aquatic environments. Springer-Verlag, New York, pp 29–59
Chróst RJ, Overbeck J (1987) Kinetics of alkaline phosphatase activity and phosphorus availability for phytoplankton and bacterioplankton in Lake Plusssee (North German eutrophic lake). Microb Ecol 13:229–248
Daley RJ (1979) Direct epifluorescence enumeration of native aquatic bacteria: uses, limitations, and comparative accuracy. In: Costerton JW, Colwell RR (eds) Native aquatic bacteria: enumeration, activity, and ecology. (American Society for Testing and Materials, Special Technical Publication No 695) ASTM, Philadelphia, pp 29–45
Davis SH, Goulder R (1993) Deterioration in bacteriological quality of water through fish farms. J Appl Bacteriol 74:336–339
Department of Health and Social Security (1969) The bacteriological examination of water supplies. (Reports on Public Health and Medical Subjects No 71) Department of Health and Social Security, HMSO, London
Fry JC (1990) Direct methods and biomass estimation. Meth Microbiol 22:41–85
Fry JC, Humphrey NCB (1978) Techniques for the study of bacteria epiphytic on aquatic macrophytes. In: Lovelock DW, Davies R (eds) Techniques for the study of mixed populations. (Society for Applied Bacteriology, Technical Series No 11) Academic Press, London, pp 1–29
Gocke K, Rheinheimer G (1991) Influence of eutrophication on bacteria in two fjords of the western Baltic. Int Rev ges Hydrobiol 76:371–385
Golladay SW, Sinsabaugh RL (1991) Biofilm development on leaf and wood surfaces in a boreal river. Freshwater Biol 25:437–450
Goulder R (1980) Seasonal variation in heterotrophic activity and population density of planktonic bacteria in a clean river. J Ecol 68:349–363
Goulder R (1986) Seasonal variation in the abundance and heterotrophic activity of suspended bacteria in two lowland rivers. Freshwater Biol 16:21–37
Goulder R (1987) Evaluation of the saturation approach to measurement of Vmax for glucose mineralization by epilithic freshwater bacteria. Lett Appl Microbiol 4:29–32
Goulder R (1990) Extracellular enzyme activities associated with epiphytic microbiota on submerged stems of the reed Phragmites australis. FEMS Microbiol Ecol 73:323–330
Hoppe H-G (1983) Significance of exoenzymatic activities in the ecology of brackish water: measurements by means of methylumbelliferyl-substrates. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 11:299–308
Hoppe H-G (1993) Use of fluorogenic model substrates for extracellular enzyme activity (EEA) measurement of bacteria. In: Kemp PF, Sherr BF, Sherr EB, Cole JJ (eds) Handbook of methods in aquatic microbial ecology. Lewis Publishers, Boca Raton, Florida, pp 423–431
Hoppe H-G, Kim S-J, Gocke K (1988) Microbial decomposition in aquatic environments: combined process of extracellular enzyme activity and substrate uptake. Appl Environ Microbiol 54:784–790
Hoppe H-G, Ducklow H, Karrasch B (1993) Evidence for dependency of bacterial growth on enzymatic hydrolysis of particulate organic matter in the mesopelagic ocean. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 93:277–283
Jacobsen TR, Rai H (1988) Determination of aminopeptidase activity in lakewater by a short term kinetic assay and its application in two lakes of differing eutrophication. Arch Hydrobiol 113:359–370
Jaffé D, Walters JK (1977) Intertidal trace metal concentrations in some sediments from the Humber Estuary. Sci Total Environ 7:1–15
Jespersen A-M, Christoffersen K (1987) Measurements of chlorophyll a from phytoplankton using ethanol as extraction solvent. Arch Hydrobiol 109:445–454
Jones SE, Lock MA (1989) Hydrolytic extracellular enzyme activity in heterotrophic biofilms from two contrasting streams. Freshwater Biol 22:289–296
Jones SE, Lock MA (1993) Seasonal determinations of extracellular hydrolytic activities in heterotrophic and mixed heterotrophic/autotrophic biofilms from two contrasting rivers. Hydrobiologia 257:1–16
Marxsen J, Fiebig DM (1993) Use of perfused cores for evaluating extracellular enzyme activity in stream-bed sediments. FEMS Microbiol Ecol 13:1–12
Marxsen J, Witzel K-P (1990) Measurement of exoenzymatic activity in streambed sediments using methylumbelliferyl-substrates. Arch Hydrobiol Beih Ergebn Limnol 34:21–28
Rheinheimer G, Gocke K, Hoppe H-G (1989) Vertical distribution of microbiological and hydrographic-chemical parameters in different areas of the Baltic Sea. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 52:55–70
Rimes CA, Goulder R (1986) Suspended bacteria in calcareous and acid headstreams: abundance, heterotrophic activity, and downstream change. Freshwater Biol 16:633–651
Servais P, Gamier J (1993) Contribution of heterotrophic bacterial production to the carbon budget of the River Seine (France). Microb Ecol 25:19–33
Sinsabaugh RL, Linkins AE (1988) Exoenzyme activity associated with lotic epilithon. Freshwater Biol 20:249–261
Sinsabaugh RL, Linkins AE (1990) Enzymic and chemical analysis of particulate organic matter from a boreal river. Freshwater Biol 23:301–309
Sinsabaugh RL, Golladay SW, Linkins AE (1991) Comparison of epilithic and epixylic biofilm development in a boreal river. Freshwater Biol 25:179–187
Sinsabaugh RL, Repert D, Weiland T, Golladay SW, Linkins AE (1991) Exoenzyme accumulation in epilithic biofilms. Hydrobiologia 222:29–37
Tailing JF, Driver D (1963) Some problems in the estimation of chlorophyll a in phytoplankton. In: Proceedings of the conference on primary productivity measurement, marine and freshwater, University of Hawaii, 1961. US Atomic Energy Comm TID-7633, pp 142–146
Tubbing DMJ, Admiraal W (1991) Sensitivity of bacterioplankton in the River Rhine to various toxicants measured by thymidine incorporation and activity of exoenzymes. Environ Toxicol Chem 10:1161–1172
Unanue M, Azda I, Barcina I, Egea L, Iriberri J (1993) Size distribution of aminopeptidase activity and bacterial incorporation of dissolved substrates in three aquatic ecosystems. FEMS Microbiol Ecol 102:175–183
Wright RT, Hobbie JE (1966) Use of glucose and acetate by bacteria and algae in aquatic ecosystems. Ecology 47:447–464
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Chappell, K.R., Goulder, R. A between-river comparison of extracellular-enzyme activity. Microb Ecol 29, 1–17 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00217419
Received:
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00217419