Comparison of methods for the detection of coliphages in recreational water at two California, United States beaches

Autor: Julianne Tajuba, Laura F. Webster, Mark D. Sobsey, Jacqueline Knee, Jill R. Stewart, Jerold W. Dickerson, Roberto A. Rodriguez, David C. Love
Rok vydání: 2009
Předmět:
Zdroj: Journal of virological methods. 181(1)
ISSN: 1879-0984
Popis: a b s t r a c t Methods for detection of two fecal indicator viruses, F+ and somatic coliphages, were evaluated for appli- cation to recreational marine water. Marine water samples were collected during the summer of 2007 in Southern California, United States from transects along Avalon Beach (n = 186 samples) and Doheny Beach (n = 101 samples). Coliphage detection methods included EPA method 1601 - two-step enrichment (ENR), EPA method 1602 - single agar layer (SAL), and variations of ENR. Variations included comparison of two incubation times (overnight and 5-h incubation) and two final detection steps (lysis zone assay and a rapid latex agglutination assay). A greater number of samples were positive for somatic and F+ col- iphages by ENR than by SAL (p < 0.01). The standard ENR with overnight incubation and detection by lysis zone assay was the most sensitive method for the detection of F+ and somatic coliphages from marine water, although the method takes up to three days to obtain results. A rapid 5-h enrichment version of ENR also performed well, with more positive samples than SAL, and could be performed in roughly 24 h. Latex agglutination-based detection methods require the least amount of time to perform, although the sensitivity was less than lysis zone-based detection methods. Rapid culture-based enrichment of col- iphages in marine water may be possible by further optimizing culture-based methods for saline water conditions to generate higher viral titers than currently available, as well as increasing the sensitivity of latex agglutination detection methods.
Databáze: OpenAIRE