The results show that the optimised protocol presented is
an accurate and highly reproducible method for enumerating
total free viruses in AS and thus is ideal for routine
investigation.
FCM counts were highly correlated with TEM based counts
and results were comparable to previously published EFM
counts.
The major advantage of FCM over TEM and EFM is its high
throughput, removing a key obstacle to undertaking
detailed spatial and temporal studies of virus dynamics in
AS systems. Such studies are a fundamental prerequisite to
understanding their possible impact on a systems bacterial
population and thus performance and functional stability