Response of bacterial community structures at No.10 Spring in Urumqi to felt earthquakes

Abstract:

Abstract:［Objective］Our aim was to know response of spring bacteria and metabolic characteristics of sensitive bacteria to felt earthquake． ［Methods］ Water samples were collected from January 31 to December 31，2012，during which period 5 felt earthquakes occurred and the epicenter was 100 kilometers away from the No．10 Spring in Urumqi．We monitored the spring bacterial activities and function diversity changes from No．10 Spring in Urumqi during the pre- and post-earthquake stages by using plate culture counting methods and BIOLOG GEN III bacteria plate．［Results］ The spring bacterial numbers presented stochastic dynamic changes through the year．The culturable bacteria numbers and average well color development (AWCD) of carbon source utilization of bacterial community were higher after the earthquake．Besides，there were some correlations with magnitude and epicenter distance of earthquake．The main carbon source utilization types of sensitive bacteria group for felt earthquake were sugar alcohol at the No.10 Spring． ［Conclusion］The results indicated that the BIOLOG GEN III plate can be used for spring bacterial metabolism diversity research．Culturable bacteria numbers and carbon source utilization of bacterial communities showed some reflecting earthquake law.