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Growth, respiration and survival of Legionella pneumophila at high temperatures
Author(s) -
Kusnetsov J.M.,
Ottoila E.,
Martikainen P.J.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
journal of applied bacteriology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.889
H-Index - 156
eISSN - 1365-2672
pISSN - 0021-8847
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2672.1996.tb03517.x
Subject(s) - legionella pneumophila , legionella , multiplication (music) , microbiology and biotechnology , respiration , bacterial growth , biology , food science , chemistry , bacteria , botany , physics , genetics , acoustics
The optimum temperature for multiplication of legionella strains in culture media is around 37°C. The effect of high temperatures on the growth of strains isolated from various environments is poorly known. We studied the growth (cell multiplication, respiration) of clinical and environmental Legionella pneumophila strains in liquid media at intervals of 0.5°C in the temperature range from 41.6 to 51.6°C using a temperature gradient incubator. Cell multiplication and CO 2 production decreased markedly with all the strains at temperatures above 44–45°C. CO 2 continued to be produced up to 51.6C even if cell multiplication generally stopped at around 48.4–50.0C. Thus, legionella retained its metabolic activity beyond the maximum temperature for cell multiplication. The CO 2 production per bacterial cell (metabolic quotient, qCO 2 ) increased with increasing temperature up to 45°C, whereafter it decreased, the turning point being almost at the same at which the rate of cell multiplication decreased. The difference in qCO 2 between the strains may reflect their different physiological capacities for tolerating high temperatures.