Scaling Down the Analysis of Environmental Processes: Monitoring Enzyme Activity in Natural Substrates on a Millimeter Resolution Scale

Natural environments often show high levels of spatial heterogeneity. With a methodology based on the immobilization of fluorescent substrates, the distribution of extracellular enzymes can be studied at a 2.3-mm resolution with a detection limit of 1.8 nmol . h(-1) . cm(-2). The method is applicable to environmental samples such as wood, litter, soil, or fungal colonies.