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Bacterial host strains that support replication of somatic coliphages
Maite Muniesa1, Laura Mocé-Llivina, Hiroyuki Katayama
1Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Biology, University of Barcelona, Diagonal 645, E-08028 Barcelona, Spain.
Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek
|June 5, 2003
Summary
Somatic coliphages, used as water quality indicators, do not significantly replicate in the environment. Studies show less than 3% of natural hosts support phage replication, making their contribution to total counts negligible.
Area of Science:
- Environmental microbiology
- Water quality assessment
- Bacteriophage ecology
Background:
- Somatic coliphages are proposed water quality indicators.
- Potential phage replication in aquatic environments is a concern.
- Replication's contribution to total phage counts is unquantified.
Purpose of the Study:
- Quantify phage replication outside the gut.
- Determine the fraction of environmental hosts supporting phage replication.
- Assess the impact of replication on somatic coliphage water quality indicators.
Main Methods:
- Tested 291 host strains against 25 phages for sensitivity (7275 combinations).
- Used six environmental strains to quantify phages in sewage and seawater.
- Infected strain WG5 with phages isolated from environmental strains.
Main Results:
- Only 3.02% of host-phage combinations showed sensitivity.
- Environmental strains detected 1 log10 fewer phages than strain WG5.
- Phages detected by environmental strains that also infected WG5 were < 2.0% of total.
Conclusions:
- Less than 3% of naturally occurring hosts support phage replication.
- Replication's contribution to somatic coliphage numbers in aquatic environments is negligible.
- Somatic coliphages are reliable water quality indicators due to minimal environmental replication.