Viability of Legionella pneumophila in Water Samples: A Comparison of Propidium Monoazide (PMA) Treatment on Membrane Filters and in Liquid

Sara Bonetta, Cristina Pignata, Silvia Bonetta, Lorenza Meucci, Donatella Giacosa, Elena Marino, Giorgio Gilli and Elisabetta Carraro
Additional contact information
Sara Bonetta: Department of Public Health and Pediatrics, University of Torino, P.zza Polonia 94, 10126 Torino, Italy
Cristina Pignata: Department of Public Health and Pediatrics, University of Torino, P.zza Polonia 94, 10126 Torino, Italy
Silvia Bonetta: Department of Public Health and Pediatrics, University of Torino, P.zza Polonia 94, 10126 Torino, Italy
Lorenza Meucci: Società Metropolitana Acque Torino S.p.A., C.so XI Febbraio, 14, 10152 Torino, Italy
Donatella Giacosa: Società Metropolitana Acque Torino S.p.A., C.so XI Febbraio, 14, 10152 Torino, Italy
Elena Marino: Società Metropolitana Acque Torino S.p.A., C.so XI Febbraio, 14, 10152 Torino, Italy
Giorgio Gilli: Department of Public Health and Pediatrics, University of Torino, P.zza Polonia 94, 10126 Torino, Italy
Elisabetta Carraro: Department of Public Health and Pediatrics, University of Torino, P.zza Polonia 94, 10126 Torino, Italy

IJERPH, 2017, vol. 14, issue 5, 1-8

Abstract: Legionella pneumophila is a ubiquitous microorganism widely distributed in aquatic environments and can cause Legionellosis in humans. A promising approach to detect viable cells in water samples involves the use of quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) in combination with photoactivatable DNA intercalator propidium monoazide (PMA). However, the PMA efficiency could be different depending on the experimental conditions used. The aim of this study was to compare two PMA exposure protocols: (A) directly on the membrane filter or (B) in liquid after filter washing. The overall PMA-induced qPCR means reductions in heat-killed L. pneumophila cells were 2.42 and 1.91 log units for exposure protocols A and B, respectively. A comparison between the results obtained reveals that filter exposure allows a higher PMA-qPCR signal reduction to be reached, mainly at low concentrations ( p < 0.05). This confirms the potential use of this method to quantify L. pneumophila in water with low contamination.

Keywords: Legionella; water; propidium monoazide (PMA); quantitative PCR (qPCR) (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/14/5/467/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/14/5/467/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:14:y:2017:i:5:p:467-:d:96954

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().