Diversity of Bacteria Growing in Natural Mineral Water after Bottling

Abstract

Bacterial growth occurs in noncarbonated natural mineral waters a few days after filling and storage at room temperature, a phenomenon known for more than 40 years. Using the full-cycle rRNA approach, we monitored the development of the planktonic bacterial community in a noncarbonated natural mineral water after bottling. Seven 16S rRNA gene libraries, comprising 108 clones in total, were constructed from water samples taken at various days after bottling and from two different bottle sizes. Sequence analyses identified 11 operational taxonomic units (OTUs), all but one affiliated with the betaproteobacterial order Burkholderiales (6 OTUs) or the class Alphaproteobacteria (4 OTUs). Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) was applied in combination with DAPI (4,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole) staining, viability staining, and microscopic counting to quantitatively monitor changes in bacterial community composition. A growth curve similar to that of a bacterium grown in a batch culture was recorded. In contrast to the current perception that Gammaproteobacteria are the most important bacterial components of natural mineral water in bottles, Betaproteobacteria dominated the growing bacterial community and accounted for 80 to 98% of all bacteria detected by FISH in the late-exponential and stationary-growth phases. Using previously published and newly designed genusspecific probes, members of the betaproteobacterial genera Hydrogenophaga, Aquabacterium, and Polaromonas were found to constitute a significant proportion of the bacterial flora (21 to 86% of all bacteria detected by FISH). For the first time, key genera responsible for bacterial growth in a natural mineral water were identified by applying molecular cultivation-independent techniques.

Identification of Bacteria in Biofilm and Bulk Water Samples from a Nonchlorinated Model Drinking Water Distribution System: Detection of a Large Nitrite-Oxidizing Population Associated with Nitrospira spp

“…Loy and coworkers recently reported that less than 3% of the total population gave a positive signal with a bacterial probe (Fig. 4) (at 0 days) in bottled mineral water (22). Similarly, Kalmbach and coworkers observed a positive probe signal from a small fraction (Ͻ23%) of planktonic bacteria in a German water distribution system (15).…”

Distantly sampled soils carry few species in common

“…It has been found to make up 2-53% of the cells found in drinking water system biofilms in Germany (Kalmbach et al, 2000), and Loy et al (2005) noted that they commonly make up a large portion of the microbial communities found in bottled natural mineral water. It made up 2.7% of the sequences from Canada.…”

Biophysical Controls on Community Succession in Stream Biofilms

“…Generally, phylogenetic analysis of selected DGGE bands identified bacteria associated with groups typically found in freshwater biofilms (Alpha-, Beta-, and Gammaproteobacteria and Bacteroidetes). Four of eight sequences belonged to the Betaproteobacteria, which have been found to be the most abundant bacterial group in freshwater ecosystems (11,16,24). Araya and colleagues (4) proposed that Betaproteobacteria may attach more easily to surfaces during initial biofilm formation than other groups of bacteria and, thus, dominate biofilm succession.…”