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Evaluation of the methods for enumerating coliform bacteria from water samples using precise reference standards
Author(s) -
Wohlsen T.,
Bates J.,
Vesey G.,
Robinson W.A.,
Katouli M.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
letters in applied microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.698
H-Index - 110
eISSN - 1472-765X
pISSN - 0266-8254
DOI - 10.1111/j.1472-765x.2006.01854.x
Subject(s) - enumeration , enterobacter aerogenes , bacteria , escherichia coli , biology , enterobacter , microbiology and biotechnology , coliform bacteria , enterobacteriaceae , food science , chromatography , mathematics , chemistry , biochemistry , genetics , combinatorics , gene
Aims: To use BioBall TM cultures as a precise reference standard to evaluate methods for enumeration of Escherichia coli and other coliform bacteria in water samples. Methods and Results: Eight methods were evaluated including membrane filtration, standard plate count (pour and spread plate methods), defined substrate technology methods (Colilert TM and Colisure TM ), the most probable number method and the Petrifilm disposable plate method. Escherichia coli and Enterobacter aerogenes BioBall TM cultures containing 30 organisms each were used. All tests were performed using 10 replicates. The mean recovery of both bacteria varied with the different methods employed. Conclusions: The best and most consistent results were obtained with Petrifilm and the pour plate method. Other methods either yielded a low recovery or showed significantly high variability between replicates. Significance and Impact of the Study: The BioBall TM is a very suitable quality control tool for evaluating the efficiency of methods for bacterial enumeration in water samples.