The vast majority of microorganisms in aquifers live as biofilms on sediment surfaces, which presents significant challenges for sampling as only the suspended microbes will be sampled through normal pumping. The use of a down‐well low frequency sonicator has been suggested as a method of detaching microbes from the biofilm and allowing rapid sampling of this community. We developed a portable, easy to use, low‐frequency electric sonicator and evaluated its performance for a range of well depths (tested up to 42 m below ground level) and casing types. Three sonicators were characterized in laboratory experiments using a 1 m long tank filled with pea gravel. These included a commercially available pneumatic sonicator, a rotating flexible shaft sonicator, and the prototype electric sonicator. The electric sonicator detached between 56 and 74% of microbes grown on gravel‐containing biobags at distances ranging between 2 and 50 cm from the sonicator. The field testing comprises of a total of 55 sampling events from 48 wells located in 4 regions throughout New Zealand. Pre‐ and post‐sonication samples showed an average 33 times increase in bacterial counts. Microbial sequence data showed that the same classes are present in pre‐ and post‐sonicated samples and only slight differences were seen in the proportions present. The sampling process was rapid and the significant increases in bacterial counts mean that microbial samples can be quickly obtained from wells, which permits more detailed analysis than previously possible.

中文翻译：

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使用超声处理增强对地下水系统中附着微生物的采样

含水层中的绝大多数微生物以生物膜的形式沉积在沉积物表面，这给采样带来了巨大挑战，因为只有悬浮的微生物将通过常规泵抽来采样。有人建议使用井下低频超声仪作为从生物膜上分离微生物并允许对该群落进行快速采样的方法。我们开发了一种便携式，易于使用的低频电声波发生器，并评估了其在一系列井深（测试至地下42 m）和套管类型下的性能。在实验室实验中，使用装有豌豆砾石的1 m长的水箱对三个超声波仪进行了表征。这些包括市售的气动超声仪，旋转挠性轴超声仪和原型电超声仪。电动超声仪可在含砾石的生物袋上分离出56％至74％的微生物，且距离超声仪2至50 cm。现场测试包括来自新西兰4个地区的48口井的总共55个采样事件。超声处理前和超声后样品显示细菌计数平均增加33倍。微生物序列数据表明，超声处理前和超声处理后的样品中存在相同的类别，并且在存在的比例中仅见细微差异。采样过程非常迅速，细菌数量的显着增加意味着可以从孔中快速获取微生物样品，从而可以进行比以前更详细的分析。现场测试包括来自新西兰4个地区的48口井的总共55个采样事件。超声处理前和超声后样品显示细菌计数平均增加33倍。微生物序列数据表明，超声处理前和超声处理后的样品中存在相同的类别，并且在存在的比例中仅见细微差异。采样过程非常迅速，细菌数量的显着增加意味着可以从孔中快速获取微生物样品，从而可以进行比以前更详细的分析。现场测试包括来自新西兰4个地区的48口井的总共55个采样事件。超声处理前和超声后样品显示细菌计数平均增加33倍。微生物序列数据表明，超声处理前和超声处理后的样品中存在相同的类别，并且在存在的比例中仅见细微差异。采样过程非常迅速，细菌数量的显着增加意味着可以从孔中快速获取微生物样品，从而可以进行比以前更详细的分析。微生物序列数据表明，超声处理前和超声处理后的样品中存在相同的类别，并且在存在的比例中仅见细微差异。采样过程非常迅速，细菌数量的显着增加意味着可以从孔中快速获取微生物样品，从而可以进行比以前更详细的分析。微生物序列数据表明，超声处理前和超声处理后的样品中存在相同的类别，并且在存在的比例中仅见细微差异。采样过程非常迅速，细菌数量的显着增加意味着可以从孔中快速获取微生物样品，从而可以进行比以前更详细的分析。