Survival potential of Aeromonas hydrophila in freshwaters and nutrient-poor waters in comparison with other bacteria

The survival of a genetically-marked Aeromonas hydrophila strain was studied in water microcosms using viable counts. Aeromonas hydrophila AWWX1 was shown to survive without decline in viable counts for at least 10 d in three of four filtered-autoclaved freshwaters (surface water and groundwater) and in all examined filtered-autoclaved nutrient-poor waters (bottled spring water, Milli-Q and tap water). However, in the unfiltered waters, a rapid decrease in viable counts of Aer. hydrophila AWWX1 was observed after 1-5 d. The survival of Aer. hydrophila AWWX1 in nutrient-poor waters was compared with that of Pseudomonas fluorescens P17 and Spirillum strain NOX. Survival characteristics were organism- and water-dependent. In the filtered-autoclaved waters, viable counts of Spirillum strain NOX were ca 1 log-unit higher than for Aer. hydrophila AWWX1 and Ps. fluorescens P17. The tested strains Aer. hydrophila AWWX1 and Ps. fluorescens P17 survived 3 to 20, respectively 2 to 4 times better in the filtered-autoclaved waters compared to the unfiltered waters. Apparently, any inherent capability of these micro-organisms to adapt to low-nutrient environments was undone by the presence of the autochthonous microbiota. The present findings that Aer. hydrophila survives very poorly in several drinking waters is of utmost importance towards public health and arises questions about the mechanisms involved.