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Appl Environ Microbiol, March 1998, p. 1018-1023, Vol. 64, No. 3
Department of Hydraulic and Environmental
Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 7034 Trondheim, Norway
Received 14 July 1997/Accepted 18 December 1997
Bacteria which were
0099-2240/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Enzyme Characteristics of
-D-Galactosidase- and
-D-Glucuronidase-Positive Bacteria and Their
Interference in Rapid Methods for Detection of Waterborne Coliforms and
Escherichia coli
-D-galactosidase and
-D-glucuronidase positive or expressed only one of
these enzymes were isolated from environmental water samples. The
enzymatic activity of these bacteria was measured in 25-min assays by
using the fluorogenic substrates
4-methylumbelliferyl--D-galactoside and
4-methylumbelliferyl--D-glucuronide. The enzyme
activity, enzyme induction, and enzyme temperature characteristics
of target and nontarget bacteria in assays aimed at detecting
coliform bacteria and Escherichia coli were investigated. The potential interference of false-positive bacteria was evaluated. Several of the -D-galactosidase-positive nontarget
bacteria but none of the -D-glucuronidase-positive
nontarget bacteria contained unstable enzyme at 44.5°C. The activity
of target bacteria was highly inducible. Nontarget bacteria were
induced much less or were not induced by the inducers used. The results
revealed large variations in the enzyme levels of different
-D-galactosidase- and
-D-glucuronidase-positive bacteria. The induced and
noninduced -D-glucuronidase activities of
Bacillus spp. and Aerococcus viridans were
approximately the same as the activities of induced E. coli. Except for some isolates identified as
Aeromonas spp., all of the induced and noninduced
-D-galactosidase-positive, noncoliform isolates exhibited at least 2 log units less mean
-D-galactosidase activity than induced E. coli. The noncoliform bacteria must be present in correspondingly
higher concentrations than those of target bacteria to interfere in the
rapid assay for detection of coliform bacteria.
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of
Hydraulic and Environmental Engineering, Norwegian University of
Science and Technology, 7034 Trondheim, Norway. Phone: 47-73 59 47 61. Fax: 47-73 59 12 98. E-mail:
liv.fiksdal{at}bygg.ntnu.no.
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