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. 1981 May;41(5):1144–1151. doi: 10.1128/aem.41.5.1144-1151.1981

Impact of verification media and resuscitation on accuracy of the membrane filter total coliform enumeration technique.

T M Evans, R J Seidler, M W LeChevallier
PMCID: PMC243881  PMID: 7020591

Abstract

Verification of membrane filter total coliform colonies was compared in lauryl tryptose broth, and m-LAC broth primary media and brilliant green-lactose-bile broth and EC broth secondary media. Verification in m-LAC broth yielded the greatest number of aerogenic isolates for both untreated surface water and drinking water samples. Verification in brilliant green-lactose-bile broth increased the number of false-negative reactions. At least 90% of the isolates aerogenic in primary verification media and anaerogenic in brilliant green-lactose-bile broth were representative of the coliform genera. The addition of a resuscitation step in the membrane filter technique did not yield greater numbers of verified coliforms per sample. Verification of both typical and atypical colonies in m-LAC broth resulted in a 10-fold increase in coliform numbers from untreated surface water. With drinking water, verification of both colony types resulted in an increase from less than 1 coliform per 100 ml to greater than 1/100 ml. A single-step verification in m-LAC broth is proposed as a more rapid and sensitive coliform verification procedure than the standard technique.

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Selected References

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

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