Heterotrophic activity and biodegradation of labile and refractory compounds by groundwater and stream microbial populations.

The bacteriology and heterotrophic activity of a stream and of nearby groundwater in Marmot Basin, Alberta, Canada, were studied. Acridine orange direct counts indicated that bacterial populations in the groundwater were greater than in the stream. Bacteria that were isolated from the groundwater were similar to species associated with soils. Utilization of labile dissolved organic material as measured by the heterotrophic potential technique with glutamic acid, phenylalanine, and glycolic acid as substrates was generally greater in the groundwater. In addition, specific activity indices for the populations suggested greater metabolic activity per bacterium in the groundwater. 14C-labeled lignocellulose, preferentially labeled in the lignin fraction by feeding Picea engelmannii [14C]phenylalanine, was mineralized by microorganisms in both the groundwater and the stream, but no more than 4% of the added radioactivity was lost as 14CO2 within 960 h. Up to 20% of [3'-14C]cinnamic acid was mineralized by microorganisms in both environments within 500 h. Both microbial populations appear to influence the levels of labile and recalcitrant dissolved organic material in mountain streams.