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For quick access to the related research, follow one of the links below: Related Volunteer Monitor Newsletter Articles Upper Midwest State Bacteria Monitoring Programs Bacterial Source Tracking Research and Contacts
Note that all links below exit this site. Research Applied and Environmental Microbiology Latest research in Environmental Microbiology Alaska At Alaska Pacific University, graduate student Shayla Swedlund and her advisor Rusty Myers compared Coliscan vs. Hach m-Coli Blue24 membrane filtration methods. They found that there was a significant difference in the amount of total coliform between methods, but that there was not a significant difference in E. coli estimates between the two methods. A summay report is linked as a 263K pdf file from this webpage. For more information contact Rusty Myers at: rmyers@alaskapacific.edu Indiana 1. At Purdue University, Jon Harbor has been
developing inquiry based materials on E.
coli pollution for middle school
teachers/students (but adaptable to other levels). He has been using
primarily the Coliscan kits, as well as the GREEN kit presence/
absence test. Contact him for more information at: jharbor@purdue.edu 2. In Northwest Indiana, the Interagency Task Force on E. coli worked to develop a Prototypical Predictive Model for Beach Closings in Indiana. Results of this research are available at: http://igs.indiana.edu/survey/projects/BeachClosings/index.cfm 3. Escherichia coli in the Environment: Implications for Water Quality and Human Health Satoshi Ishii1) and Michael J. Sadowsky1)2) 1) Department of Soil, Water, and Climate, University of Minnesota 2) Department of BioTechnology Institute, University of Minnesota (Received January 30, 2008) (Accepted March 5, 2008) Abstract: Escherichia coli is naturally present in the intestinal tracts of warm-blooded animals. Since E. coli is released into the environment through deposition of fecal material, this bacterium is widely used as an indicator of fecal contamination of waterways. Recently, research efforts have been directed towards the identification of potential sources of fecal contamination impacting waterways and beaches. This is often referred to as microbial source tracking. However, recent studies have reported that E. coli can become "naturalized" to soil, sand, sediments, and algae in tropical, subtropical, and temperate environments. This phenomenon raises issues concerning the continued use of this bacterium as an indicator of fecal contamination. In this review, we discuss the relationship between E. coli and fecal pollution and the use of this bacterium as an indicator of fecal contamination in freshwater systems. We also discuss recent studies showing that E. coli can become an active member of natural microbial communities in the environment, and how this bacterium is being used for microbial source tracking. We also discuss the impact of environmentally-"naturalized" E. coli populations on water quality. Keywords: Escherichia coli, water quality, fecal pollution, health risks, "naturalized" population Full article can be accessed at http://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jsme2/23/2/23_101/_article 4. U.S. Geological Survey U.S. Department of the Interior News Release Michigan According to Rita Jack, the Environmentally Concerned Citizens of
South Central Michigan sampled for dissolved oxygen and for E. coli and reported results of their study at www.nocafos.org. She said "that
original monitoring project is now past, but the volunteer monitoring
continues. Two rural Michigan streams were added to the 2004 303(d) list The Lake Superior Beach Program, coordinated by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, monitored 35 beaches during summer 2003. According to an article in the Seiche, by Marie Zhuikov, "they used 235 E. coli colonies and 400 fecal coliform colonies as trigger points for a "no water contact" advisory".View the entire article at: http://www.seagrant.umn.edu/seiche/2004/06/bacteria_on_the_beach.html MN SEA GRANT NEWS RELEASE 7/1/08 Scientists Find Bird and Human E. coli in Wild Fish Scientists at the University of Minnesota have found that some of the potentially harmful bacteria in the Duluth-Superior Harbor come from an unlikely source: the fishes. It's not the fishes' fault, though. They are just carrying around bacteria that are already in their environment. University of Minnesota researchers Dennis Hansen, John Clark, Satoshi Ishii, Michael Sadowsky, and Randall Hicks are the first to discover the sources of E. coli (Escherichia coli) in several species of wild fish. They collected carp, brown bullheads, Eurasian ruffe, round gobies, white perch, and rock bass from the Duluth-Superior Harbor as part of a Minnesota Sea Grant-funded study to determine the sources of bacteria that result in local beach closures. In a peer-reviewed paper recently published in the Journal of Great Lakes Research, the scientists describe that most of the E. coli were found in bottom-dwelling fishes (brown bullheads, ruffe, carp, and round gobies) and the genetic matches were most similar to E. coli found in bottom sediments, Canada geese, mallard ducks, and human wastewater. The researchers didn't test the bacteria for pathogencity. "We didn't find the bacteria in the fish meat -- it's carried in their intestine," said Randall Hicks, biology professor at the University of Minnesota Duluth. "Anglers shouldn't worry about using the fish as food. They should just be careful not to cut open a fish's intestine." If an angler happens to cut open fish intestines during cleaning, Jeff Gunderson, associate director with Minnesota Sea Grant, suggests they thoroughly wash the fish with clean water and cook it fully. E. coli is an indicator of potential pollution. Levels of it are used to determine whether local beaches should be posted with "no water contact" advisories. There are a variety of types of E. coli. The most worrisome for humans is usually the E. coli from other humans (often from sewage overflows). While many strains are harmless, some cause gastrointestinal illnesses. Symptoms include vomiting, diarrhea, or other more serious conditions people would not want as a reminder of a fun day at the beach. "Fish probably acquire E. coli when they eat food contaminated with feces," said Hicks. Researchers don't expect E. coli to flourish in cold-blooded fish, since the bacterium is more common in warm-blooded animals. "However, it is possible that fish may reintroduce E. coli bacteria into waterways when they excrete their own waste," Hicks said. "Currently, it's probably more appropriate to consider fish as carriers of E. coli from other sources, rather than a new source of contamination in our waterways," Hicks added. Until 1966, E. coli was thought to survive only in warm-blooded animals such as birds and mammals but it has since been discovered in the intestines of wild fish. The source of the bacteria in these cold-blooded animals was thought to be from polluted water and food, but researchers did not attempt to trace it. Subsequently, E. coli was discovered in the intestines of farm-raised tilapia and rainbow trout. The fish were not the source for the E. coli, rather, the suspect was their food, which had been contaminated by pigeon droppings. For more information on this project, order the free journal article: Sources and Sinks of Escherichia coli in Benthic and Pelagic Fish, from Minnesota Sea Grant by visiting http://www.seagrant.umn.edu/publications/JR544 or calling (218) 726-6191. Ask for JR 544. Missouri Missouri Stream Teams tested Coliscan Easygel and the membrane filter technique with diluted waste water influent. They used dilutions to do monthly QA/QC on their membrane filter technique for fecal coliform bacteria. Volunteer Monitoring Coordinator, Tim Reilly told us he "did splits from the dilutions with both methods, and replicates with each method and compare[d] the results". He found that the results did not compare. He said, "the membrane filter technique derived higher numbers of fecal coliform /100mL" and that the Coliscan plate was hard to read. For more information about this program-level study, contact Tim Reilly at: Tim.Rielly@mdc.mo.gov Tony Thorpe of the Lakes of Missouri Volunteer Program has assessed Coliscan Easygel. They compared Easygel results vs. traditional plated and incubated methods. Tony reported on the EPA listserver that "qualitative results show that Easygel underestimates E.coli by around 50%, but that was with an "n" of 3, all from the same stream (though different locations)". Based on these results, volunteers in the Lakes of Missouri program who are using Easygel at this point in time are doing so with the understanding that until complete accuracy testing is done, the results indicate presence/absence only. For more information , contact Tony Thorpe at: thorpet@missouri.edu South Dakota The East Dakota Water Development District is running (in 2007) a project in which they are sampling several lakes for E. coli and total coliform bacteria concentrations. Project collborator Jeanne Fromm indiciated that they "are cross-checking volunteer methods by sending part of the water sample to a lab". Ohio Researchers in North Carolina, Indiana, and Ohio used rapid indicators of water quality to assess water quality at beaches in Ohio and Indiana. Their abstract says that they "tested water samples for Enterococcus and
Bacteroides species using the quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method.[They] observed
significant trends between increased GI illness and Enterococcus at the Lake Michigan beach and a
positive trend for Enterococcus at the Lake Erie beach." The findings of this studied, titled, Rapidly Measured Indicators of Recreational Water Quality Are Predictive
of Swimming-Associated Gastrointestinal Illness" by Ohio Environmental Protection Agency researchers published results of a study of microbial monitoring in recreational waters. Here is more information about the study: Item Title: The EMPACT Beaches Project: Results From a Study on
Microbiological Monitoring in Recreational Waters Oregon Stacy Renfro of the Student Watershed Research
Project reported that they use "Hach's mColiBlue 24 method
for E. coli and total coliform - [they] get excellent results out
of high school students which are confirmed by our professional
lab partners. It is an EPA-approved membrane filtration procedure
using Hach's mColiBlue24 broth - it gives results after 24 hour
incubation on a single medium. E. coli colonies turn blue and total
coliform are red after incubation. The only down fall [they] have
encountered is the price of the broth. As for variability in results
- [their] training results are always surprisingly close - a group
of 30 participants, running a blank and duplicates of 2 volumes,
gets final results within +/- 10 CFU/100 mL for water samples from
the same location. For more information contact Stacy Renfro at:
renfro@pdx.edu Pennsylvania The Shroud Water Research Center will be testing the ColiQuant EZ LaMotte product in July 2004. Contact Vivian Williams for more information at: vwilliams@stroudcenter.org Rhode Island Elizabeth Herron of URI Watershed Watch reported they have "been comparing multiple tube fermentation process with the direct filtration onto mTEC for several years now, and will be starting a comparison of mTEC to the LaMotte ColiQuant EZ kit this summer. For that test [they] will be running the ColiQuant analysis using both the low tech version (using only the equipment that comes with the kit) and [their] laboratory incubators and filtration systems". For more information, contact Elizabeth Herron at: emh@uri.edu Texas In a response to an EPA volunteer monitoring list server posting, Jason Pinchback of Texas Watch at Texas State University noted that he has utilized the E.coli Coliscan Easygel (pour plate) method with various volunteer monitoring programs since 1997. He said , "although its accuracy does not measure up to "lab QA standards", [he has] observed that it is very useful for determining "hot spots" within a stream segment or watershed. Once a site, or geographical region has been identified with elevated levels, this screening mechanism triggers lab analyzed samples or a pollution complaint to an agency". He went on to say "there are some challenges in using this method. [He] found that some urban segment samples have so much E.coli and other bacteria that enumeration becomes difficult due to high colony counts. This can be reduced by using 0.5mL or 1mL samples, but this also decreases representativeness. ... "there is a steep learning curve involved with identifying and counting E.coli colonies, so be prepared to answer lots of follow-up questions. Digital photos and email communications help with this learning process. One [volunteer monitor] actually uses a [computer photo editing program] to identify colonies of specific color hues, and this removes some bias. General QC guidance should also include identifying specific people who routinely analyze the samples (instead of having 10 volmons analyze samples from 10 sites) where possible. Duplicate samples can also be used to determine validity". Virginia Virginia Save Our Streams has researched two different E. coli test kit methods. Findings of a study comparing Coliscan Easygel to Virginia's State Lab methods (called DSLS in the presentation) and results of a study on the Colilert method are included as links below. Stacy Brown, of Virginia Save Our Streams, also shared with us (to share with you) an introduction to bacteria monitoring. Based on their research, Stacy Brown reported that "groups in Virginia are starting to gear up to use the Easygel as a screening tool". Use the following links to access pdf files of PowerPoint presentations about: "Low Cost Bacteria Monitoring Coliscan Easygel" "Citizen Water Quality Monitoring: Bacterial testing using defined substrates" "Introduction to Bacteria Monitoring of Surface water for Volunteers"
Wisconsin The City of Racine, Wisconsin, ran membrane filter and Idexx 24hr and 18hr Colilert brand tests side by side in conjunction with the Milwaukee Health Department Laboratory. Based on results otf their research, they have switched to the 18hr Idexx brand test. Robert Bagley of the City of Racine told us, "Although it is more expensive than membrane filtration, it gives comparable results in less time- something of great interest to those who actually provide beach programs to the public (city/county parks dept people)". Their results were published in the January 2003 issue of Applied and Enviromental Microbiology. A link to the City's website with additional useful information follows: http://www.cityofracine.org/Depts/health/water_quality.aspx Out of Country Escherichia coli O157 can grow in natural freshwater at low carbon concentrations Whereas much information on the die-off of Escherichia coli in the aquatic environment is available, only few data support its growth under such conditions. We therefore investigated batch growth in microcosms containing different types of sterile freshwater. The water samples were inoculated with low starting cell concentrations of E. coli O157 (3 × 10 3 cells ml −1 ) and growth was followed using nucleic acid staining combined with flow cytometry. We demonstrated that E. coli O157 is able to grow in sterile freshwater at low carbon concentrations, which is against the common view that cell numbers decline over time when added to freshwater samples. A correlation between apparent assimilable organic carbon (AOC app ) concentration and the final cell concentration reached by E. coli O157 was established ( P < 0.01). A considerable fraction of the AOC app (34 ± 13%) was used by E. coli O157 but the numerical cell yield was about five-times lower in comparison with the bacterial AOC-test community, which originated from natural freshwater. On average, the maximum specific growth rate ( μ max ) of E. coli O157 growing in sterile freshwater at 30°C was 0.19 ± 0.07 h −1 . Batch growth assays at five different temperatures revealed a positive influence of temperature on μ max of E. coli O157. The results give new information on the behaviour of this common pathogen in the aquatic environment and contribute to microbial risk assessment in order to prevent spreading of water-borne diseases. Environmental Microbiology Volume 10 Issue 9 , Pages 2387 - 2396 Marius Vital, 1,2 Frederik Hammes 1 and Thomas Egli 1,2 1 Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag), 8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland. 2 Institute of Biogeochemistry and Pollutant Dynamics, ETH Zürich, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland. Correspondence to *E-mail egli@eawag.ch ; Tel. (+41) 1 823 51 58; Fax (+41) 1 823 55 47. Copyright Journal compilation © 2008 Society for Applied Microbiology and Blackwell Publishing Ltd
Related Volunteer Monitor Newsletter Articles Success Stories from Alabama Bacteria Monitors (Spring 2000) - Link is to 784 KB pdf file Interpreting Fecal Coliform Data: Tracking down the Right Sources (Fall 1997) - Link is to 337 KB pdf file. The Fall 1998 issue (874 KB pdf file) had a special section on bacteria testing, including: Bacteria Testing Part 1: Methods Primer Bacteria Testing Part 2: What Methods Do Volunteer Groups Use? Bacteria Testing Q&A Optical brighteners: Detecting Sewage Leaks with Optical Brightener Monitoring (Summer 2003) - Link is to 460 K pdf file Monitoring Optical Brighteners: Detergent Ingredient Helps Track Bacteria Sources (Fall 1999) - Link is to 814 KB pdf file Homemade incubators: Update: Homemade Waterbath Incubators (Fall 1998) - link is to 874 KB pdf file To the Editor (Letter) (Fall 1994) NOTE -- this was untitled -- it's on page 2of the Fall 1994 issue. Link is to 2.2 MB pdf file. Building Your Own Water Bath Incubator (Spring 1993) - Link is to 1.2 MB pdf file Upper Midwest State Bacteria Monitoring Programs Illinois Department of Public Health Bathing Beaches Indiana's Lake Michigan Beaches Iowa Department of Natural Resources Beach Monitoring Michigan
Department of Environmental Quality Public Beach and Waterway Info Minnesota Pollution Control Agency Minnesota Lake Superior Beach Program Ohio Department of Health Beach Monitoring Program Wisconsin Beach Monitoring Program Chattahoochee
Riverway Project BacteriALERT Program King
County, WA, Swimming Beach Monitoring Program Delaware
Recreational Water Quality LaMotte ColiQuant EZ Methods (link to 69 KB pdf file) Bacterial Source Tracking Research and Contacts Applied and Environmental
Microbiology Latest research in Source Tracking Dr. C. Andrew Carson Dr. Katharine G. Field Dr. Charles Hagedorn Dr. Peter G. Hartel Dr. Valerie J. Harwood Dr. Howard Kator Dr. George Lukasik Dr. Salina Parveen Dr. Michael J. Sadowsky Dr. Mansour Samadpour Dr. George M. Simmons Dr. Mark D. Sobsey Jill Stewart
This page updated July 1, 2008 |
