Fig 1.

Comparison of culture-dependent and qPCR estimates of numbers of enterococci, E. coli, and C. perfringens in the dairy wastewaters from (A) June, (B) August, and (C) October. Quantitative PCR was based on positive amplification of target genes using EC, Eco, and cpa primers for enterococci, E. coli, and C. perfringens, respectively. Columns represent means ± standard deviations (n = 30). Columns with different letters (a or b) indicate a significant difference between the two quantification techniques (P < 0.05).