A replica plating method was developed for detecting and enumerating phenanthrene-degrading microorganisms. The method is designed to discriminate between aquatic organisms that utilize phenanthrene as the sole carbon and energy source and organisms that cometabolize phenanthrene. The method was used to demonstrate that phenanthrene utilizers and phenanthrene cometabolizers coexist in estuarine sediments.
Chesapeake Biological Laboratory, Center for Environmental and Estuarine Studies, and Department of Microbiology, University of Maryland, Solomons, Maryland 20668.
