A Short Review about Using MicroResp Method for the Assessment of Community Level Physiological Profile in Agricultural Soils
Abstract
MicroResp is a colorimetric method developed by Campbell et al., (2003), used for assessing the community level physiological profile of the microbial population. MicroResp can be used to assess soil health, pollution induced community tolerance, also for toxicity testing, pesticide degradation profiles, bioremediation evaluation and water ecology and toxicity. The aim of the present review was to look over the results of recent papers and to highlight the importance and efficiency of the MicroResp method in assessing the physiological profile of the microbial community. The method advantages and limitations were also assessed. We focused on agricultural soil in order to deepen our understanding about changes of microbial community induced by agricultural practices. To achieve this goal, academic literature was analyzed using an academic database. There were set a total of six keywords, used to make a search algorithm, achieving five search terms. For each search, the first four articles of interest were chosen to be reviewed. After the searches for each of the terms, between 72 and 210 articles were found, 20 of them being chosen for final evaluation. Following the undertaken research, it can be stated that MicroResp method is an important tool to assess the physiological profile of the microbial community, featuring a series of advantages that place it ahead of other competing methods.Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
a) Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
b) Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
c) Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).