Average well color development data for water samples from six locations within the historic section of Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky

Water samples were collected from six cave locations where Actinobacterial mats appeared to be plentiful. Community-level physiological capabilities were evaluated using Biolog-Ecolog plates inoculated with cave water dosed with 0 or 0.10 milligrams per liter (mg/L) of erythromycin. The data were transformed into average well color development (AWCD). The transformation is done by subtracting the background color development (blank controls) and then averaging the three color readings of the same treatment on the same Biolog EcoPlate. Each EcoPlate has three replicates of 31 different substrates (potential bacterial food) that the microbial community can potentially metabolize and thereby transform a clear dye into blue color. The color transformation is measured using a spectrophotometric plate reader at 595 nanometer wavelength. The readings take place every 24 hours over a 5-day period. As noted earlier, we compensate for background color by taking readings from three blank wells containing no substrate, just dye and bacteria. The AWCD for each site and 24-hour reading is reported in this data release.

研究人员在6处放线菌垫（Actinobacterial mats）富集的洞穴点位采集了水样。以添加了0或0.10毫克每升（mg/L）红霉素的洞穴水样接种Biolog-Ecolog平板（Biolog-Ecolog plates），以此评估群落水平的生理功能。实验数据被转换为孔平均颜色变化率（average well color development, AWCD），转换流程为：先扣除本底颜色变化值（空白对照），再对同一Biolog EcoPlate上同一处理组的三次颜色读数取平均值。每个EcoPlate包含31种不同底物（潜在细菌营养源）的三次重复实验，这些底物可被微生物群落代谢，进而使无色染料变为蓝色。颜色变化程度通过分光光度板读数仪在595纳米波长下进行检测。在5天的实验周期内，每24小时进行一次读数。如前所述，本研究通过读取3个不含底物、仅含染料与细菌的空白孔的吸光度值，对本底颜色进行校正。本数据集公开了各采样点位在每个24小时读数节点的孔平均颜色变化率（AWCD）数据。