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Survival of various ERIC-genotypes of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli in well water

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Abstract

Recently, there has been a surge of interest in understanding the survival of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) in aquatic environments. Fifteen strains of STEC were monitored, individually, in untreated well water samples incubated at 10 and 22^C for 56 days. The strains were selected from three serogroups (O26, Ol11 and O157) and represented five distinct ERIC (enterobacterial repetitive intergenic concensus)-genotypes. The microcosms were prepared in triplicate and inoculated at an initial cell density of about 7.0 log CFU/ml well water. At 10^C, the cell density of five STEC strains fell below the detection limit of 0.8 log CFU/ml by day 56. Of the ten persisting strains, four showed superior survival with cell densities decreasing to an average of about 5 log CFU/ml while the remaining six strains showed moderate levels of survival, decreasing to an average cell density of about 3 log CFU/ml. At 22^C, strain H32 (genotype I) and H15 (genotype B) persisted at 1.1 log CFU/ml and 2.2 log CFU/ml in 56 days, respectively. The other 13 STEC strains dropped below the detection limit between weeks 3 to 8. The 15 strains demonstrated highly variable levels of survival with no correlation between ERIC-genotypes or serogroups and the strains' ability to persist in the well water samples. Although strain H32 (O157:H7) persisted significantly longer than strain H22 (O157:H7) in natural well water at both 10 and 22^C, both strains survived equally well in sterile well water, indicating that individual STEC strains vary in their ability to compete with background microbial populations.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, Lakehead University, 955 Oliver Road, Thunder Bay, Ontario, P7B 5E1, Canada

    Leigh Watterworth, Bruce Rosa, Heidi Schraft & Kam Tin Leung

  2. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 1391 Sandford Street, London, Ontario, N5V 4T3, Canada

    Edward Topp

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  1. Leigh Watterworth
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  2. Bruce Rosa
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  3. Heidi Schraft
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  4. Edward Topp
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  5. Kam Tin Leung
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Correspondence to Kam Tin Leung.

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Watterworth, L., Rosa, B., Schraft, H. et al. Survival of various ERIC-genotypes of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli in well water. Water Air Soil Pollut 177, 367–382 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-006-9179-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-006-9179-x

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