The objective of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of microbial source tracking (MST) strategies for
characterizing and determining relatedness among isolates obtained from a drinking water
treatment plant and distribution systems. Approximately eighty bacterial isolates were obtained from three water utilities in North
America. The three utilities had identified coliforms in their distribution systems and
preliminary analyses by the utilities identified the causes of the occurrences as being either
the water treatment plant (or the source), regrowth in the distribution system or invasive
distribution system operations (e.g., main break repair). Isolates from Pinellas County,
Florida were sampled from the water treatment facility at different stages of the treatment
process, whereas isolates from Laval, Quebec and Lexington, Kentucky were sampled at
different points in the distribution system. All bacterial isolates underwent subsequent
characterization using enzyme-based and molecular methods. Substrate utilization tests (API
and Biolog) were used to determine the identity of the isolates. Both API and Biolog are
phenotypic identification systems that utilize a series of colorimetric reactions to generate a
metabolic profile for unknown bacterial isolates. Isolates were further characterized by
PFGE analysis to determine the degree of genetic variation between isolates. PFGE was
used to separate genomic DNA digested with a rare-cut restriction enzyme (XbaI). The
band pattern obtained from PFGE analysis was used to create a profile for each isolate. The
profiles of isolates were compared to determine the genetic relatedness between isolates and
whether microbial occurrences at two different sampling points were related. Includes 8 references.
| Edition : | Vol. - No. |
| File Size : | 1
file
, 94 KB |
| Note : | This product is unavailable in Ukraine, Russia, Belarus |
| Number of Pages : | 5 |
| Published : | 11/01/2007 |
