Project Number: WVA00402
CRIS Number: 0180502
MICROBIOLOGICAL QUALITY OF GROUNDWATER IN WEST VIRGINIA
Investigators: Bissonnette, G., Sexstone, A.
Performing Department: Plant & Soil Sciences -- 1825
Start Date: 10/01/1998
Termination Date: 09/30/2003
Reporting period: 01/01/2001 to 12/31/2001
Progress Report:
The genus Arcobacter is considered by many public health officials as an etiological agent of gastroenteritis in individuals consuming contaminated food or water. In laboratory microcosm studies, the survival of Arcobacter butzleri in nutrient-limited groundwater exceeded that of the traditional water quality indicator organism, Escherichia coli. An inverse relationship between survival and water temperature was observed for both organisms, but the persistence of A. butzleri exceeded that of E. coli at 5, 15, and 25C. Selective media for the isolation of Arcobacter spp., while sensitive enough to recover stressed A. butzleri cells, proved ineffective at selectively reducing background microflora for quantification. At best, only a 10-fold reduction in indigenous microflora was observed with antibiotic-containing selective media. Efforts were made to detect A. butzleri from raw sewage, poultry fecal matter, and poultry feed water by comparing molecular methods and conventional plating on selective media. Cultural methods proved inferior. Molecular detection, though somewhat effective, also had limitations and requires further investigation.
Publications:
Coleman, J., Hench, K., Garbutt, K., Sexstone, A., Bissonnette, G. and Skousen, J. 2001. Treatment of domestic wastewater by three plant species in constructed wetlands. Water, Air, Soil Pollut. 128:283-295.
Kinneer, K.L. and Sexstone, A.J. 2001. Differential response of size-fractionated soil bacteria in BIOLOG microtitre plates. Soil Biol. Biochem. 33:1547-1554.
Kinneer, K.L., Panaccione, D.G. and Sexstone, A.J. 2001. Characterization of dilution enrichment cultures obtained from size-fractionated soil bacteria by BIOLOG community-level physiological profiles and restriction analysis of 16S rRNA genes. Soil Biol. Biochem. 33:1555-1562.
Lillis, T.O. and Bissonnette, G.K. 2001. Detection and characterization of filterable heterotrophic bacteria from rural groundwater supplies. Lett. Appl. Microbiol. 32:268-272.
Thunberg, R.L., Sexstone, A.J., Calabrese, J.P. and Bissonnette, G.K. 2001. Effects of antecedent fermentative and respiratory growth on the detection of chloramine-stressed Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhimurium. Can. J. Microbiol. 47:777-781.
Impact:
Relatively little is known about the persistence, ecology, and public health significance of Arcobacter butzleri in surface or ground waters. Our recent findings on the survival and recovery of A. butzleri should contribute to the development of improved methodologies for monitoring this organism in aquatic environments and human/animal wastes.