Arcobacter butzleri was isolated from a contaminated ground water source. These organisms, previously designated as aerotolerant Campylobacter, were capable of surviving in the ground water environment. Specific DNA probes were used to characterize the isolates in the initial identification and survival studies. Arcobacter butzleri was found to be sensitive to chlorine inactivation.
Monitoring for indigenous spores of aerobic spore‐forming bacteria proves a viable method of assessing treatment plant performance.
Spores of aerobic spore‐forming bacteria were used as microbial surrogates for evaluating drinking water treatment plant performance. A method for assaying for the microbial surrogate was developed. Various water sources were surveyed, and data were collected from coagulation and chlorine inactivation studies. Evaluations for spore removals and turbidity and particle removals were compared for pilot‐scale and full‐scale water treatment plants.
Presently there is no established cell line or small animal model that allows for the detection of infectious human norovirus. Current methods based on RT-PCR and RT-qPCR detect both infectious and non-infectious virus and thus the conclusions that may be drawn regarding the public health significance of positive findings are limited. In this study, PMA RT-PCR and RT-qPCR assays were evaluated for selective detection of infectious poliovirus, murine norovirus (MNV-1), and Norwalk virus. Viruses were inactivated using heat, chlorine, and ultraviolet light (UV). Infectious and non-infectious viruses were treated with PMA before RT-PCR and RT-qPCR. PMA RT-PCR was able to differentiate selectively between infectious and heat and chlorine inactivated poliovirus. PMA RT-PCR was able to differentiate selectively between infectious and noninfectious murine norovirus only when inactivated by chlorine. However, PMA RT-PCR could not differentiate infectious Norwalk virus from virus particles rendered non-infectious by any treatment. PMA RT-PCR assay was not able to differentiate between infectious and UV inactivated viruses suggesting that viral capsid damage may be necessary for PMA to enter and bind to the viral genome. PMA RT-PCR on naked MNV-1 and Norwalk virus RNA suggest that PMA RT-PCR can be used to detect intact, potentially infectious MNV-1 and Norwalk viruses and can be used to exclude the detection of free viral RNA by PCR assay.
Genotypic and phenotypic assays for glutamate decarboxylase (GAD) and -D-glucuronidase (GUD) were compared for their abilities to detect various strains of Escherichia coli and to discriminate among other bacterial species. Test strains included nonpathogenic E. coli, three major groups of diarrheagenic E. coli, three other non-coli Escherichia species, and various other gram-negative and-positive bacteria found in water. The genotypic assays were performed with hybridization probes generated by PCR amplification of 670-and 623-bp segments of the gadA/B (GAD) and uidA (GUD) genes, respectively. The GAD enzymes catalyze the ␣-decarboxylation of L-glutamic acid to yield ␥-aminobutyric acid and carbon dioxide, which are detected in the phenotypic assay by a pH-sensitive indicator dye. The phenotypic assay for GUD involves the transformation of 4-methylumbelliferyl--D-glucuronide to the fluorogenic compound 4-methylumbelliferone. The GAD phenotypic assay detected the majority of the E. coli strains tested, whereas a number of these strains, including all representatives of the O157:H7 serotype and several nonpathogenic E. coli strains, gave negative results in the GUD assay. Both phenotypic assays detected some but not all strains from each of the four Shigella species. A strain of Citrobacter freundii was also detected by the GUD assay but not by the GAD assay. All E. coli and Shigella strains were detected with both the gadA/B and uidA probes. A few Escherichia fergusonii strains gave weak hybridization signals in response to both probes at 65؇C but not at 68؇C. None of the other bacterial species tested were detected by either probe. These results were consistent with previous reports which have indicated that the GAD phenotypic assay detects a wider range of E. coli strains than does the GUD assay and is also somewhat more specific for this species. The genotypic assays for the two enzymes were found to be equivalent in both of these respects and superior to both of the phenotypic assays in terms of the range of E. coli strains and isolates detected.
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