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12 Measuring Bacterial Biomass Production and Growth Rates from Leucine Incorporation in Natural Aquatic Environments David Kirchman College o( Marine Studies, University of Deloware, Lewes,DE 19958, USA CONTENTS Introduction Measuring3H-leucine incorporation by the filter method Measuring3H-leucine incorporation by the microcentrifuge method Conclusions ~,~I,~,~,4,~, I N T R O D U C T I O N The rate of biomass production is a fundamental property of all organisms in nature, but it is an especially important parameter of microbes in natural aquatic environments. An estimate of microbial production can be used as a general index of microbial activity and specifically to calculate growth rates. Since m a n y processes scale with it, biomass production can be used to obtain a first-order estimate of rates of several processes mediated by microbes. For example, in the case of heterotrophic bacteria, the organisms to be discussed here, biomass production can be used to estimate use of dissolved organic material (DOM) if coupled with an estimate of the growth efficiency. That is, DOM uptake equals bacterial biomass production divided by the growth efficiency (expressed as a fraction, not a percentage). Biomass production is the increase in biomass per unit time per unit w)lume or per area and is a function of both biomass (B), usually expressed as carbon mass per volume (e.g. lagC l~), and the specific growth rate (ia) (e.g. h ') (Ducklow, 2000). in the absence of any mortality (grazers and viruses), bacterial biomass increases exponentially (although not necessarily very quickly) which can be described by dB/dt METt tODS IN MICROBIOLOGY, VOLUME 30 ISBN 0 12 521530-4 = ia B (12.1) C o p y r i g h t © 2001 Academic Press htd ,All rights of reproduction in a n y form reserved e4~ EO 0 • t" ~ a I~) °m 4o G. In this case, bacterial production is the first derivative ( d B / d t ) or the slope of the curve on graphs of biomass (B) versus (t). If the data are graphed as ln(B) versus time, then the slope of this semi-log graph is the growth rate (V). In nature, bacteria seldom if ever live in the absence of protist grazers and viruses, both of which cause bacterial mortality. In most natural systems, most of the time, bacterial production is matched by mortality such that (dB/dt),,~.~ = 0. However, the methods discussed here measure 'gross production', i.e. biomass production unaffected by mortality. It is the rate of biomass production that would occur if mortality were zero. This is possible because the methods rely on incubations that are relatively short (hour or less) compared to the timescale of bacterial growth and mortality (a day or longer). Although we say we measure 'gross production', the rate does not include respiration. Ducklow (2000) discusses the differences in uses of the terms 'gross' and 'net' production by bacterial and phytoplankton ecologists. Ducklow (2000) also reviews the m a n y methods that have been used to examine bacterial production in aquatic environments. Although alternative methods are still valuable for specific applications, recent investigations of natural aquatic environments have used either thymidine (TdR) incorporation or leucine (Leu) incorporation or both to estimate bacterial production. The two methods, which were originally proposed by Fuhrman and Azam (1980) and Kirchman et al. (1985), respectively, have many parallels, and the experimental details are nearly identical. Both are rapid, easy, and specific for heterotrophic bacteria, some of the main reasons w h y they have been widely adapted by microbial ecologists. I focus here on the leucine method because it is more straightforward than the TdR method to estimate bacterial production; if one relies on 'theoretical' conversion factors, the only variable assumption in extrapolating from Leu incorporation to bacterial production is the degree of isotope dilution (Kirchman, 1993), as described below. Consequently, over the last few years more investigators seem to be using Leu incorporation rather than the TdR method. M E A S U R I N G 3H-LEUCINE I N C O R P O R A T I O N B Y T H E FILTER M E T H O D Principle Two variations of the Leu method will be described, but the basic biochemistry and physiology behind the methods are the same. Leucine incorporation is often used to measure protein synthesis in pure cultures of bacteria because leucine is a constant proportion of all protein (7.3~7~; Kirchman at al., 1985). Consequently, rates of protein synthesis can be estimated from the rate at which this amino acid appears in the protein fraction. The original method called for hot trichloroacetic acid (TCA) extraction to measure leucine incorporated specifically into protein, but this step is not necessary because the difference between a cold and hot 228 TCA extraction is negligible; nearly all leucine is incorporated directly into protein (Kirchman et al., 1985). Rates of total biomass production can be estimated in turn if the a m o u n t of protein per cell or per cellular mass is known. Although cell size and thus protein per celt can vary greatly, protein is a relatively constant fraction of bacterial biomass (60% of dry weight; Simon and Azam, 1989). Incorporation of leucine (and thymidine) is dominated by heterotrophic bacteria in most aquatic habitats. Rates of leucine incorporation into protein are estimated from the appearance of radioactivity, added as 'H-leucine, in the protein fraction. The added ~H-leucine (20 nM) normally is much higher than in situ concentrations (< 1 nM). This high added concentration has two effects. First, it means that the natural extracellular leucine usually can be ignored in all calculations. Second, because extracellular concentrations are so high with the added leucine, bacteria will take up the exogenous ~H-leucine and repress leucine biosynthesis, i.e. the production of non-radioactive leucine which is subsequently used for protein synthesis. But the problem is, some a m o u n t of leucine biosynthesis, usually unknown, may continue even in the presence of high exogenous leucine, thus 'diluting' incorporation of radioactive leucine. This is called 'isotope dilution' (ID). In summary, the equation describing biomass production as estimated from leucine incorporation (Leu incorp) is: Biomass production = Leu Incorp x 131.2 + (Leu per protein) x (cell C per protein) x ID (12.2) which gives biomass production as gC per volume per unit time of the incubation. The molecular weight of leucine is 131.2 and converts moles of leucine incorporation into grams of C. The fraction of Leu in protein ('Leu per protein') is 7.3% (0.073 in the equation) and cellular C per protein is 0.86 (Simon and Azam, 1989). The few measured estimates of ID average to about 2 (Simon and Azam, 1989). A more conservative approach (lower production) would assume that ID = 1. In which case, bacterial production can be calculated as: Biomass production = Leu lncorp x 1.5 kg C per mol (12.3) e- O'O "r. U when leucine incorporation is measured in moles incorporated per unit time and volume. Specific growth rates can be estimated from rates of biomass production if a few assumptions are made. If we apply Equation (12.1) to gross production (not net production), i.e. that measured by the TdR or Leu approaches, then the specific growth rate (~1) is: p - BP/B (12.4) where B P is biomass production (biomass per time unit per volume or area) and B is a measure of bacterial abundance (cells per volume) or biomass (cellular mass per volume). Cellular biomass is usually estimated by multiplying bacterial abundance by a carbon per cell conversion factor, 229 II1 o a. c e.g. 10 fgC per cell (Fukuda et al., 1998). Biomass versus cell production is discussed below. Note that growth rates have units of 'per time', e.g. d 1, whereas generation time (g) is g = ln(2)/p = 0.693/p (12.5) and has units of 'time', e.g. hours or days. Ecologists often discuss 'doublings per day' which has the same units as specific growth rates, but is calculated as 1/g. The growth rate calculated from biomass production would reflect an average for the entire bacterial assemblage, including both the very slow and the very fast growing cells. The extreme is the case of nonviable cells with a growth rate of zero. Over the years, there has been much debate about the fraction of inactive (if not dead) bacterial cells in aquatic habitats, but generally a high proportion of cells do incorporate leucine (Kirchman et al., 1985) and thymidine (Fuhrman and Azam, 1982). However, regardless of the capacity of bacteria to incorporate these two compounds, several studies do suggest that activity and presumably growth rates vary greatly among various members of the bacterial assemblages (del Giorgio et al., 1997; Sherr et al., 1999). Although the limitations are obvious, growth rates calculated by the method outlined above can be very useful in characterizing bacterial assemblages. Also, there are few alternative approaches. Equipment and reagents • Tritiated leucine ([2,3,4-3H] leucine) as a stock solution with specific activity of >60 nmol per Ci (I mCi ml -~) (NEN,Amersham). • Polycarbonate incubation tubes or flasks of appropriate sizes for environment. Other materials (e.g. glass or other plastics) should be avoided. • Vacuum pump, flasks and filter holders (25 mm) for filtering radioactive and corrosive liquids. • Filters of mixed cellulose esters with pore sizes of 0.45 pm (or 0.22 lum) and diameter of 25 mm (Millipore).Two pairs of forceps. It may be necessary to remove the plastic handle so that the forceps can fit down to the bottom of a 7 ml scintillation vial. • Pipettes (e.g. Pipetman) that dispense volumes ranging from microliters (for the 3H-leucine) to milliliters. Repeating dispensers for the ethyl acetate and scintillation cocktail. • Trichloroacetic acid (TCA) in a stock solution of 50% and as a wash solution (5%) • Ethanol, 80%. • Ethyl acetate. • Scintillation cocktail and scintillation vials (7 ml). Ultima-Gold (Packard Instruments) was found to be the optimal cocktail (Ducklow, personal communication). 230 • • • Vortexer. Scintillation counter (e.g. Beckman,Wallac). Appropriate containers for radioactive corrosive liquids and radioactive solids. Assay It is not necessary to use sterile techniques to conduct the following assay. Contamination by organic material, however, should be avoided as it could stimulate bacterial growth or dilute the added 3H-leucine. Plastic gloves should be worn at all times to protect the sample from contamination. 1. Add an appropriate volume of the water sample to an incubation vessel. The volume may range from 5 ml of highly active waters to 100 ml of very inactive waters. Duplicates or triplicates should be prepared per sample. 2. Prepare a killed control by adding TCA to a final concentration of 1%. Other killing agents can be used (e.g. formaldehyde), but TCA is needed for other steps in the assay anyway and it does not affect the incubation vessel. Bottles exposed to formaldehyde or gluteraldehyde should not be used for live incubations. Also, formaldehyde and gluteraldehyde need to be handled in a hood. 3. Add 3H-leucine to the samples and to the killed control and then mix by hand. The final concentration of leucine should be 20 riM, which usually is sufficient to maximize incorporation rates, indicating that isotope dilution has been minimized. This maximum concentration can be determined empirically by simply varying the added 3H-leucine concentration and noting at what concentration 3H-leucine incorporation reaches a maximum. The actual volume of ~H-leucine added per incubation will vary, depending on the incubation volume and the specific activity of the 3Hleucine batch from the manufacturer. 4. Incubate the samples at the in situ temperature for an appropriate time. The incubation time may vary from 30min to 24h, depending on the activity level. For many applications, end point determinations are quite adequate, but for unknown environments it is advisable to measure incorporation over time in order to determine the best single incubation time. The best time is the shortest period that gives a measurable rate with acceptable errors. For most water samples, this time will be about one hour. Water samples without visible particles probably do not need to be shaken during the incubation, but if material is present that may settle, it is advisable to shake gently. 5. After incubation, filter samples through filters using minimal vacuum (<200 mm Hg). The start and end times of the incubation are noted. 6. With the vacuum connected, rinse the filter twice with 3 ml of icecold TCA. 231 e4,J E~ • r" ~a mOL a. 7. Rinse twice with 3 ml of ice-cold 80% ethanol. 8. With the vacuum still connected, lift the tower off the filter and use a small volume of ethanol to rinse the filter edge that was covered by the tower. 9. Using two forceps, fold the filter into quarters and place it at the bottom of the 7 ml scintillation vial. It is important to force the filter to the bottom of the vial so that the small volume of ethyl acetate (step 11) will completely cover the filter. 10. Allow the filter to dry before proceeding to the next step. Any ethanol remaining on the filter must be evaporated as it is a potent quencher in scintillation counting. 11. Add 0.5 ml of ethyl acetate to the scintillation vial. 12. Once the filter is dissolved, add 5 ml of scintillation cocktail, and vortex the vial briefly. 13. It is usually necessary to allow the sample to sit for as long as two days to maximize the dispersion of the radioactivity into the cocktail. Vortex briefly before scintillation counting. Rate of leucine incorporation (Leu incorp as nmol 1 ~h ') is calculated as follows: Leu incorp = {(dpm on sample filter)-(dpm in killed control)}/ incubation time/(2.22 × 10" d p m per tJCi) x (Leu specific activity as nmol per laCi) The factor 2.22 x 10" d p m per laCi converts the radioactivity (dpms) found on the filter to laCi, the unit of radioactivity used for the leucine specific activity. This specific activity is provided for each batch of leucine by the manufacturer and converts radioactivity (tJCi) to moles of leucine incorporated. M E A S U R I N G 3H-LEUCINE I N C O R P O R A T I O N BYTHE MICROCENTRIFUGE METHOD Principle The following procedure, which was originally proposed by Smith and Azam (1992), is nearly the same as the flter method just described. The critical differences are that the incubation and radioassaying are both done in a 2.0 ml microcentrifuge tube. Also, the radioactivity incorporated into the microbial biomass is collected by centrifugation, not filtration. As a result, the amount of radioactivity and the volume of sample and scintillation cocktail are much smaller than used in the filter method. Also, the processing time and variability among replicates are often better with the microcentrifuge method. Finall),, the 'blank' or radioactivity in the killed controls is usually much lower for the microcentrifuge method (especially when TdR incorporation is measured), which allows much lower rates to be measured in shorter incubation times. This is especially important w h e n samples from deep waters with low activity are studied. 232 The m e t h o d described below has been extensively used in seawater and to a lesser extent in freshwaters. For freshwater systems, precipitation m a y be aided by adding humics (Kirschner and Velimirox; 1999) or NaC1 (to 3.5'7,, final concentration; D.C. Smith, personal communication), but other investigators do not add anything (J.J. Cole, personal communication). The need for additions to aid in precipitation should be assessed for each freshwater system u n d e r study. Additions are not needed for seawater studies. Equipment and reagents • Tritiated leucine ([2,3,4-3H] leucine) as a stock solution with specific activity >60 nmol per Ci (I mCi ml ') (NEN, Amersham). • 2 ml microcentrifuge tubes. • Pipettes (e.g. Pipetman) that dispense volumes ranging from microliters (for the 3H-leucine) to milliliters. Repeating dispensers for the washes and scintillation cocktail. • Trichloroacetic acid (TCA) in a concentrated solution (100% w/v) and as a wash solution (5%). • Ethanol, 80%. • Aspirator, which can be constructed with tubing and a vacuum pump. • Scintillation cocktail (7 ml). Ultima-Gold (Packard Instruments) was found to be the optimal cocktail (H.W. Ducklow, personal communication). • Vortexer. • Microcentrifuge (e.g. Eppendorf). • 7 ml plastic scintillation vials (can be re-used) as carriers for the microcentrifuge tube. Scintillation vials from some manufacturers are smaller than others which makes it difficult to remove the microcentrifuge tube. • Scintillation counter (e.g. Beckman,Wallac). • Appropriate containers for radioactive corrosive liquids and radioactive solids. ,.c 4~ E~ O Assay °n The same general comments about sterile technique, contamination, and gloves that apply to the filter m e t h o d also apply to the microcentrifuge method. 1. Add an appropriate v o l u m e of ['H] leucine to each microfuge tube before the sample is added. The tubes need not be washed before use. The stock [~H] leucine will need to be diluted such that a small but reasonable v o l u m e (between 2 and 5 Ill) of [:'HI leucine can be a d d e d to each tube. As with the filter method, the final concentration of [~H] leucine should be 20 nM, but this can be tested as described above. Killed controls are prepared by adding 89 pl of 100~ TCA to selected tubes. It is convenient to mark one side of the tube (cap and top edge) for positioning in the microcentrifuge (see step 7). 233 m o a. 2. Add sample water (1.7 ml) to each microfuge tube and shake the tube by inverting it. Duplicates or triplicates should be prepared per sample. 3. Incubate the samples at the i~l sihl temperature for an appropriate time period as described for the filter method. 4. After incubation, add 89 t~1of 100% TCA to each sample, except for the killed controls. (For measuring TdR incorporation, the samples must be cooled to 4°C by placing the tubes in ice before addition of the TCA.) 5. Place the tubes in the microcentrifuge with the mark on the outside, i.e. the side where the pellet will eventually form. Centrifuge the samples at the maximum speed of the microcentrifuge for 10 min. 6. After centrifugation, remove the supernatant by aspiration, being careful to avoid the pellet which is on the marked side. 7. Add l ml of ice-cold TCA to each tube, vortex, and repeat the centrifugation step. 8. Remove the TCA by aspiration as described in step 7 and add 1.0 ml of ice-cold 80% ethanol. Centrifuge again. 9. Remove the ethanol by aspiration. 10. Allow the pellet to dry completely because any remaining ethanol will cause quenching during liquid scintillation counting and lead to erratic results. 11. Add 1 ml of scintillation cocktail to the microcentrifuge tube and then vortex briefly. 12. Place the microcentrifuge tubes in plastic 7 ml scintillation vials and radioassay. 13. It is usually necessary to allow the sample to sit for as long as two days to maximize the dispersion of the radioactivity into the cocktail. Vortex briefly before scintillation counting. Rates of leucine incorporation (Leu incorp as nmol 1 ' h 1)are calculated using the same equation as used for the filter method. CONCLUSIONS ideally both leucine and thymidine methods should be used because they provide independent estimates of bacterial production. The dual label method with I4C-leucine and ~H-thymidine allows both incorporation rates to be estimated in a single incubation tube (Chin-Leo and Kirchman, 1988). Some investigators have used leucine as a measure of biomass production (gC per liter per day) and thymidine for cell production (cells per liter per day). Their rationale is that leucine measures protein synthesis, i.e. biomass production, whereas thymidine reflects DNA synthesis, i.e. cell production. During balanced growth, however, the two rates have to be equal (when converted to equivalent units) because for sustained periods, cells cannot increase mass without division nor can 234 they divide without making new biomass. For this reason, leucine and thymidine incorporation rates cannot diverge for long time periods (greater than a couple of generation times or roughly a few days) or over large geographic areas. In practice, leucine and thymidine incorporation rates usually covary and are highly correlated. But since bacterial growth is not necessarily balanced, rates of leucine and thymidine incorporation may diverge and not be correlated. The difference between leucine and thymidine incorporation may be informative, if coupled with other measurements of the biogeochemical environment. Rates of leucine and thymidine incorporation could also diverge because the relationship between incorporation rates and bacterial production, which is reflected in conversion factors, may change. For example, changes in DNA content per cell, perhaps due to changes in bacterial species composition, would lead to variation in thymidine incorporation without changes in the actual rate of biomass production. Changes in isotope dilution is probably the biggest unknown in calculating production from leucine incorporation. The problem of picking the correct conversion factor is the difficult part of using either leucine or thymidine incorporation as a measure of bacterial production. Using 'empirical' conversion factors potentially is a solution, but it is far from perfect. Ducklow (2000) provides the most recent review of these questions. It should be emphasized that often rates of leucine and thymidine incorporation alone, e.g. moles of leucine incorporated per liter per day, are sufficient for addressing ecological questions. Similarly, often an estimate of incorporation rates per cell is an adequate index of bacterial growth rates. Even when using just incorporation rates, however, one conceptional problem with the leucine method should be mentioned. Unlike DNA, protein can 'turn over', i.e. protein is degraded within a cell and new protein is synthesized, in prokaryotes protein turnover is generally thought to be negligible, but conceivably it is substantial compared to total protein synthesis when cells are growing very slowly, i.e. the case with some aquatic environments. If protein turnover is substantial, then leucine incorporation would overestimate bacterial production. In the extreme case of high protein turnover and zero net protein synthesis (and thus zero biomass production), PHlleucine would be incorporated into the new protein but no radioactivity would be lost during the degradation of the old (non-radioactive) protein. Thus, the leucine method would indicate some positive rate of biomass production when in fact there was none. The single study of protein turnover in an aquatic environment (Kirchman et al., 1986) did not find substantial rates, but more work is needed on this question. The other main conceptual problem with both the leucine and thymidine method is that it measures total production of the entire community. It is now well recognized that the heterotrophic bacterial community is very diverse and that the role in biogeochemical cycles for each member of this community is likely to differ. For this reason, there is a need to develop methods for measuring biomass production and growth rates for specific members or groups within the bacterial community. Some progress has been made (Kemp et al., 1993; Urbach et al., 1999), but more 235 e4,J E~ °i -~=~ T. 0 I1 ,L w o r k is n e e d e d . It is conceivable that bacterial p r o d u c t i o n will be m o r e accurately estimated b y a d d i n g u p the c o n t r i b u t i o n s b y the m a j o r bacterial g r o u p s rather t h a n t r y i n g to m e a s u r e a c o m m u n i t y rate, as described here. References Chin-Leo, G. and Kirchman, D. L. (1988). Estimating bacterial production in marine waters from the simultaneous incorporation of thymidine and leucine. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 54, 1934-1939. del Giorgio, P. A., Prairie, Y. T. and Bird, D. E (1997). Coupling between rates of bacterial production and the abundance of metabolically active bacteria in lakes, enumerated using CTC reduction and flow cytometry. Microbial Ecol. 34, 144-154. Ducklow, H. W. (2000). Bacterial production and biomass in the oceans. In: Microbial Ecology o(tlle Oceans (D. L. Kirchman, Ed.). John Wiley and Sons, New York. Fuhrman, J. A. and Azam, F. (1980). Bacterioplankton secondary production estimates for coastal waters of British Columbia, Antarctica, and California. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 39, 1085-1095. Euhrman, J. A. and Azam, E (1982). Thymidine incorporation as a measure of heterotrophic bacterioplankton production in marine surface waters: evaluation and field results. Mar. Biol. 66, 109-120. Fukuda, R., Ogawa, H., Nagata, T. and Koike, 1. (1998). Direct determination of carbon and nitrogen contents of natural bacterial assemblages in marine environments. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 64, 3352-3358. Kemp, P. E, Lee, S. and LaRoche, J. (1993). Estimating the growth rate of slowly growing marine bacteria from RNA content. Appl. Envi~vn. Microbiol. 59, 2594-2601. Kirchman, D. L. (1993). Leucine incorporation as a measure of biomass production by heterotrophic bacteria. In: Current Methods in Aquatic Microbial Ecology (P. Kemp, B. E Sherr, E. B. Sherr and J. J. Cole, Eds). Lewis Publishers, Boca Raton, EL. Kirchman, D. L., K'nees, E. and Hodson, R. E. (1985). Leucine incorporation and its potential as a measure of protein synthesis by bacteria in natural aquatic systems. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 49, 599-607. Kirchman, D. L., Newell, S. Y. and Hodson, R. E. (1986). Incorporation versus biosynthesis of leucine: implications for measuring rates of protein synthesis and biomass production by bacteria in marine systems. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Set. 32, 47-59. Kirschner, A. K. T. and Velimirov, B. (1999). Modification of the H-3-1eucine centrifugation method for determining bacterial protein synthesis in freshwater samples. Aquatic Microbial Ecol. 17, 201-206. Sherr, B. E, del Giorgio, P. and Sherr, E. B. (1999). Estimating abundance and single-cell characteristics of respiring bacteria via the redox dye CTC. Aquatic Microbial Ecol. 18, 117-131. Simon, M. and Azam, E (1989). Protein content and protein synthesis rates of planktonic marine bacteria. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Set. 51, 201-213. Smith, D. C. and Azam, E (1992). A sirnple, economical method for measuring bacterial protein synthesis in seawater using ~H-leucine. Mar. Micn)b. Food Webs 6, 107-114. Urbach, E., Vergin, K. L. and Giovannoni, S. J. (1999). hnmunochemical detection and isolation of DNA from metabolically active bacteria. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 65, 1207-1213. 236 List of suppliers The following is a selection of companies. For most products, alternative suppliers are available. Amersham Life Science, Inc. 26111 Miles Road Cleveland, OH 44128, USA Teh 1-216-765-5000 Fax: 1-216-464-5075 http://www.amersham.co.uk Radiochemicals ([~H]Leu, [~H]TdR). Packard Instrument Company 800 Research Parkway Meriden, CT 06450, USA Teh 1-800-323-1891 USA Only 1-203-238-2351 Fax: 1-203-639-2172 E-maih [email protected] Scintillation counter; scintillation cocktail. Beckman Instruments, Inc. 2500 Harbor Blvd. Fullerton, CA 92634-3100, USA Teh 1-714-871-4848 Fax: 1-714-773-8283 1-800-643-4366 Rainin Instrument Co., Inc. Mack Road, Box 4026 Woburn, MA 01888-4026, USA Tel: 617-935-3050 Pipetters. Scintillation counter. Millipore Corporation 80 Ashby Road Bedford, MA 01730, USA Teh 1-800- 645-5476 1-617-275-9200 Fax: (508) 624-8873 Wallac Inc., Berthold 9238 Gaither Road Gaithersburg, MD 20877, USA Tel: 1-301-963-3200 1-800-638-6692 Fax: 1-301-963-7780 e-mail: [email protected] Filters. Scintillation counter. NEN Life Science Products 549 Albany Street Boston, MA 02118, USA Tel: 1-800-551-2121; 1-617-482-9595 Fax: 1-617-482-1380 Radiochemicals ([~H]Leu, [~H]TdR). 237 e4~ E~ "a,-~ •~- 0 a a.