Comparison of traditional and molecular analytical methods for detecting biological agents in raw and drinking water following ultrafiltration.

Autor: Francy DS; U.S. Geological Survey, Ohio Water Science Center, Columbus, OH 43229, USA. dsfrancy@usgs.gov, Bushon RN, Brady AM, Bertke EE, Kephart CM, Likirdopulos CA, Mailot BE, Schaefer FW 3rd, Lindquist HD
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Journal of applied microbiology [J Appl Microbiol] 2009 Nov; Vol. 107 (5), pp. 1479-91. Date of Electronic Publication: 2009 Apr 22.
DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2672.2009.04329.x
Abstrakt: Aims: To compare the performance of traditional methods to quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) for detecting five biological agents in large-volume drinking-water samples concentrated by ultrafiltration (UF).
Methods and Results: Drinking-water samples (100 l) were seeded with Bacillus anthracis, Cryptospordium parvum, Francisella tularensis, Salmonella Typhi, and Vibrio cholerae and concentrated by UF. Recoveries by traditional methods were variable between samples and between some replicates; recoveries were not determined by qPCR. Francisella tularensis and V. cholerae were detected in all 14 samples after UF, B. anthracis was detected in 13, and C. parvum was detected in 9 out of 14 samples. Numbers found by qPCR after UF were significantly or nearly related to those found by traditional methods for all organisms except for C. parvum. A qPCR assay for S. Typhi was not available.
Conclusions: qPCR can be used to rapidly detect biological agents after UF as well as traditional methods, but additional work is needed to improve qPCR assays for several biological agents, determine recoveries by qPCR, and expand the study to other areas.
Significance and Impact of the Study: To our knowledge, this is the first study to compare the use of traditional and qPCR methods to detect biological agents in large-volume drinking-water samples.
Databáze: MEDLINE