Fiber-Optic Fluorometer for Microscale Mapping of Photosynthetic Pigments in Microbial Communities

Microscale fluorescence measurements were performed in photosynthetic biofilms at a spatial resolution of 100 to 200 μm with a new fiber-optic fluorometer which allowed four different excitation and emission wavelengths and was configured for measuring phycobiliproteins, chlorophylls, and bacteriochlorophylls. We present details of the measuring system and describe examples of applications in different microbial communities