Rapid Enumeration of Sulfate-Reducing Bacteria Using Methyl Tetrazolium Assay

Sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) are anaerobes that cause human diseases, corrosion, and the bioremediation of metals. This study asserts the methyl tetrazolium assay as an accurate cell activity-based enumeration technique for quantifying SRB. The method offers a quick, easy, and reproducible enumeration technique, simplifying abundant calculations and elimination of the sulfide particles that complicate other counting methods, such as fluorescence-activated cell sorting, acridine orange spectrophotometry, and hemocytometer cell counting, simplifying the quantification of live SRB.