This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints and Permissions Copyright Information Books from ASM Press MicrobeWorld Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Martins, M T Articles by Olson, B H Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Martins, M T Articles by Olson, B H Agricola Articles by Martins, M T Articles by Olson, B H

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Appl Environ Microbiol. 1993 July; 59(7): 2271-2276

Distribution of uidA gene sequences in Escherichia coli isolates in water sources and comparison with the expression of beta-glucuronidase activity in 4-methylumbelliferyl-beta-D-glucuronide media.

Department of Microbiology, University of Sao Paulo, Brazil.

ABSTRACT

The uidA gene, which encodes the beta-glucuronidase enzyme, was detected in 97.7% of 435 Escherichia coli isolates from treated and raw water sources by DNA-DNA hybridization; 92.4% of the strains expressed the translational product in 4-methylumbelliferyl-beta-D-glucuronide-containing media after reinoculation. Upon initial isolation from water samples, the minimal medium o-nitrophenyl-beta-D-galactopyranoside-4-methylum-belliferyl -beta-D-glucuronide preparations failed to detect more than 50% of the E. coli isolates that possessed uidA gene. Treated water gave the lowest recovery, with Colilert producing 26% positive samples and Coliquik producing 48% positive samples. There appears to be no relationship between the intensity of the autoradiographic signals of the uidA gene and the expression of beta-glucuronidase activity. Therefore, another variable such as physiological condition of the bacteria could be responsible for the nonexpression of the enzyme activity.

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Ram, J. L., Ritchie, R. P., Fang, J., Gonzales, F. S., Selegean, J. P. (2004). Sequence-Based Source Tracking of Escherichia coli Based on Genetic Diversity of {beta}-Glucuronidase. J. Environ. Qual. 33: 1024-1032 [Abstract] [Full Text]