2,3,5-Triphenyltetrazolium chloride (TTC) as electron acceptor of culturable soil bacteria,fungi and actinomycetes

Dehydrogenase assays based on the reduction of 2,3,5- triphenyltetrazolium chloride (TTC) to the creaming red-coloured formazan (TPF), have been used to determine microbial activity in soil. By spraying TTC on culturable microbial colonies, whose growth was induced by applying glucose, we observed that from 72 to 100% of the bacterial and actinomycetes colonies in different soils were capable of using TTC as an electron acceptor. This percentage decreased to only 5% in the case of fungal colonies.