Skip to main content
PMC home page
Applied and Environmental Microbiology logoLink to Applied and Environmental Microbiology
. 1996 Dec;62(12):4621–4626. doi: 10.1128/aem.62.12.4621-4626.1996

Retention of enteropathogenicity by viable but nonculturable Escherichia coli exposed to seawater and sunlight.

M Pommepuy 1, M Butin 1, A Derrien 1, M Gourmelon 1, R R Colwell 1, M Cormier 1
PMCID: PMC168287  PMID: 8953732

Abstract

The effect of natural sunlight on culturability and persistence of pathogenicity of Escherichia coli was examined in the field, i.e., in the Morlaix Estuary, France, using an enterotoxigenic strain of Escherichia coli H10407. Results showed that E. coli responds to the estuarine diurnal solar cycle by entering the viable but nonculturable state upon exposure to sunlight. That is, direct counts of viable cells remained stable without significant change, but E. coli cells remained fully culturable only when exposed to seawater in control chambers in the dark, i.e., without solar irradiation. The effect of sunlight on the pathogenicity of E. coli H10407 was studied, using both the rabbit intestinal loop assay and ganglioside-enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (GM1-ELISA), a sensitive procedure for testing for production of enterotoxin. Results of the GM1-ELISA demonstrated that strains of E. coli, after exposure to sunlight and entering the viable but nonculturable state, as well as culturable E. coli, retained pathogenicity, i.e., produced enterotoxin. The GM1-ELISA is concluded to be more sensitive than the rabbit intestinal loop assay for analysis of enterotoxin in natural water samples.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (190.1 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Barcina I., González J. M., Iriberri J., Egea L. Survival strategy of Escherichia coli and Enterococcus faecalis in illuminated fresh and marine systems. J Appl Bacteriol. 1990 Feb;68(2):189–198. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2672.1990.tb02565.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Byrd J. J., Colwell R. R. Maintenance of plasmids pBR322 and pUC8 in nonculturable Escherichia coli in the marine environment. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1990 Jul;56(7):2104–2107. doi: 10.1128/aem.56.7.2104-2107.1990. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Davies C. M., Evison L. M. Sunlight and the survival of enteric bacteria in natural waters. J Appl Bacteriol. 1991 Mar;70(3):265–274. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2672.1991.tb02935.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Desmonts C., Minet J., Colwell R., Cormier M. Fluorescent-antibody method useful for detecting viable but nonculturable Salmonella spp. in chlorinated wastewater. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1990 May;56(5):1448–1452. doi: 10.1128/aem.56.5.1448-1452.1990. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Evans D. G., Silver R. P., Evans D. J., Jr, Chase D. G., Gorbach S. L. Plasmid-controlled colonization factor associated with virulence in Esherichia coli enterotoxigenic for humans. Infect Immun. 1975 Sep;12(3):656–667. doi: 10.1128/iai.12.3.656-667.1975. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Fliermans C. B., Gorden R. W. Modification of membrane diffusion chambers for deep-water studies. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1977 Jan;33(1):207–210. doi: 10.1128/aem.33.1.207-210.1977. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Grimes D. J., Atwell R. W., Brayton P. R., Palmer L. M., Rollins D. M., Roszak D. B., Singleton F. L., Tamplin M. L., Colwell R. R. The fate of enteric pathogenic bacteria in estuarine and marine environments. Microbiol Sci. 1986 Nov;3(11):324–329. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Hobbie J. E., Daley R. J., Jasper S. Use of nuclepore filters for counting bacteria by fluorescence microscopy. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1977 May;33(5):1225–1228. doi: 10.1128/aem.33.5.1225-1228.1977. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Johnson D. E., Calia F. M. False-positive rabbit ileal loop reactions attributed to Vibrio parahaemolyticus broth filtrates. J Infect Dis. 1976 Apr;133(4):436–440. doi: 10.1093/infdis/133.4.436. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Knight I. T., Shults S., Kaspar C. W., Colwell R. R. Direct detection of Salmonella spp. in estuaries by using a DNA probe. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1990 Apr;56(4):1059–1066. doi: 10.1128/aem.56.4.1059-1066.1990. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Kogure K., Simidu U., Taga N. A tentative direct microscopic method for counting living marine bacteria. Can J Microbiol. 1979 Mar;25(3):415–420. doi: 10.1139/m79-063. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. LaBelle R. L., Gerba C. P. Influence of estuarine sediment on virus survival under field conditions. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1980 Apr;39(4):749–755. doi: 10.1128/aem.39.4.749-755.1980. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Mundell D. H., Anselmo C. R., Wishnow R. M. Factors influencing heat-labile Escherichia coli enterotoxin activity. Infect Immun. 1976 Aug;14(2):383–388. doi: 10.1128/iai.14.2.383-388.1976. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Rahman I., Shahamat M., Chowdhury M. A., Colwell R. R. Potential virulence of viable but nonculturable Shigella dysenteriae type 1. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1996 Jan;62(1):115–120. doi: 10.1128/aem.62.1.115-120.1996. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Roszak D. B., Colwell R. R. Metabolic activity of bacterial cells enumerated by direct viable count. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1987 Dec;53(12):2889–2893. doi: 10.1128/aem.53.12.2889-2893.1987. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Shahamat M., Paszko-Kolva C., Mai U. E., Yamamoto H., Colwell R. R. Selected cryopreservatives for long term storage of Helicobacter pylori at low temperatures. J Clin Pathol. 1992 Aug;45(8):735–736. doi: 10.1136/jcp.45.8.735. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Singleton F. L., Attwell R. W., Jangi M. S., Colwell R. R. Influence of salinity and organic nutrient concentration on survival and growth of Vibrio cholerae in aquatic microcosms. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1982 May;43(5):1080–1085. doi: 10.1128/aem.43.5.1080-1085.1982. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Svennerholm A. M., Wikström M., Lindblad M., Holmgren J. Monoclonal antibodies to Escherichia coli heat-labile enterotoxins: neutralising activity and differentiation of human and porcine LTs and cholera toxin. Med Biol. 1986;64(1):23–30. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Applied and Environmental Microbiology are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES