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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, November 2005, p. 6838-6844, Vol. 71, No. 11
0099-2240/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.71.11.6838-6844.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Enteroviruses and Bacteriophages in Bathing Waters

Laura Mocé-Llivina, Francisco Lucena, and Juan Jofre*

Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Biology, University of Barcelona, Avda. Diagonal, 645, E-08028 Barcelona, Spain

Received 30 March 2005/ Accepted 20 July 2005

A new procedure for detecting and counting enteroviruses based on the VIRADEN method applied to 10 liters of seawater was examined. It improved the efficiency of detection by taking into account both the number of positive isolations and numbers found with traditional methods. It was then used to quantify viruses in bathing waters. A number of bacterial indicators and bacteriophages were also tested. Cultivable enteroviruses were detected in 55% of the samples, most of which complied with bacteriological criteria. In contrast, viral genomes were only detected in 20% of the samples by reverse transcription-PCR. Somatic coliphages outnumbered all other indicators. F-specific RNA phages were detected in only 15% of the samples, whereas phages infecting Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron were detected in 70% of samples. A numerical relationship between the numbers of enteroviruses and the numbers of enterococci and somatic coliphages was observed. In situ inactivation experiments showed that viruses persisted significantly longer than the bacterial indicators. Only somatic coliphages and bacteriophages infecting Bacteroides persisted longer than the viruses. These results explain the numbers of enteroviruses and indicators in bathing waters attending the numbers usually found in sewage in the area. Somatic coliphages show a very good potential to predict the risk of viruses being present in bathing waters.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Biology, University of Barcelona, Avda. Diagonal, 645 Edifici Annex, Planta 0, E-08028 Barcelona, Spain. Phone: 34 93 402 14 87. Fax: 34 93 403 90 47. E-mail: jjofre{at}ub.edu.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, November 2005, p. 6838-6844, Vol. 71, No. 11
0099-2240/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.71.11.6838-6844.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



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