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Quantifying Salmonella Population Dynamics in Water and Biofilms

  • Environmental Microbiology
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Abstract

Members of the bacterial genus Salmonella are recognized worldwide as major zoonotic pathogens often found to persist in non-enteric environments including heterogeneous aquatic biofilms. In this study, Salmonella isolates that had been detected repeatedly over time in aquatic biofilms at different sites in Spring Lake, San Marcos, Texas, were identified as serovars Give, Thompson, Newport and -:z10:z39. Pathogenicity results from feeding studies with the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans as host confirmed that these strains were pathogenic, with Salmonella-fed C. elegans dying faster (mean survival time between 3 and 4 days) than controls, i.e., Escherichia coli-fed C. elegans (mean survival time of 9.5 days). Cells of these isolates inoculated into water at a density of up to 106 ml−1 water declined numerically by 3 orders of magnitude within 2 days, reaching the detection limit of our quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR)-based quantification technique (i.e., 103 cells ml−1). Similar patterns were obtained for cells in heterogeneous aquatic biofilms developed on tiles and originally free of Salmonella that were kept in the inoculated water. Cell numbers increased during the first days to more than 107 cells cm−2, and then declined over time. Ten-fold higher cell numbers of Salmonella inoculated into water or into biofilm resulted in similar patterns of population dynamics, though cells in biofilms remained detectable with numbers around 104 cells cm−2 after 4 weeks. Independent of detectability by qPCR, samples of all treatments harbored viable salmonellae that resembled the inoculated isolates after 4 weeks of incubation. These results demonstrate that pathogenic salmonellae were isolated from heterogeneous aquatic biofilms and that they could persist and stay viable in such biofilms in high numbers for some time.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful for the financial support from Texas State University, the Department of Biology, and the State of Texas through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).

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  1. Department of Biology, Texas State University, 601 University Drive, San Marcos, TX, 78666, USA

    Qiong Sha, Michael R. J. Forstner & Dittmar Hahn

  2. School of Family & Consumer Sciences, Texas State University, 601 University Drive, San Marcos, TX, 78666, USA

    Dhiraj A. Vattem

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  1. Qiong Sha
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Correspondence to Dittmar Hahn.

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Sha, Q., Vattem, D.A., Forstner, M.R.J. et al. Quantifying Salmonella Population Dynamics in Water and Biofilms. Microb Ecol 65, 60–67 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-012-0106-y

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