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Dissertação

Novel surrogates for viral load: bacteriophage infecting E. Faecalis. Presence and survival in different matrices EVALUATED

Detalhes: The maintenance of microbiological water quality is of special concern worldwide. There are a number of pathogens contained in polluted water, including faecal bacteria, enteric viruses and pathogenic protozoa. At the turn of years, the faecal water contamination has caused a series of outbreaks. There are various methods used to predict the presence of pathogens in waters. From among proposed faecal contamination indicators there are bacteriophages. The aim of this work was to further characterize enterophages, a novel group of phages infecting E. faecalis, as faecal viral indicators. The method for enterophage recovering has been found to be simple and not time-consuming. The detection and enumeration of enterophages in untreated wastewaters revealed their prevalence in raw sewages. The comparison of enterophages? concentration between touristic and non-touristic sites proved a significant increase of enterophage number in touristic locations during warm-month period, due to the influx of tourists to holiday resorts. The test for ability of enterophages to replicate at different temperatures proved that they may replicate at 37 °C and 41 °C. The low detection of enterophages in treated wastewater might signify their substantial sensitivity to water treatment. The analysis on stability of enterophages in distilled, tap and wastewater revealed that enterophages have the highest survivability in wastewater. The nucleic acid analysis indicated that enterophages are composed of double-stranded DNA. Furthermore, the test for global applicability of Puerto Rican E. faecalis strain demonstrated the possible universality of this host strain for recovering of enterophages.
Keywords: Enterophages, bacteriophages, Microbial Source Tracking, water quality

Discussão: novembro 23, 2011, 17:0