Escherichia coli Concentrations in the Mill Creek Watershed, Cleveland, Ohio, 2001-2004

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amie M.G. Brady
2003 ◽  
Vol 69 (8) ◽  
pp. 4549-4555 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muruleedhara Byappanahalli ◽  
Melanie Fowler ◽  
Dawn Shively ◽  
Richard Whitman

ABSTRACT Dunes Creek, a small Lake Michigan coastal stream that drains sandy aquifers and wetlands of Indiana Dunes, has chronically elevated Escherichia coli levels along the bathing beach near its outfall. This study sought to understand the sources of E. coli in Dunes Creek's central branch. A systematic survey of random and fixed sampling points of water and sediment was conducted over 3 years. E. coli concentrations in Dunes Creek and beach water were significantly correlated. Weekly monitoring at 14 stations during 1999 and 2000 indicated chronic loading of E. coli throughout the stream. Significant correlations between E. coli numbers in stream water and stream sediment, submerged sediment and margin, and margin and 1 m from shore were found. Median E. coli counts were highest in stream sediments, followed by bank sediments, sediments along spring margins, stream water, and isolated pools; in forest soils, E. coli counts were more variable and relatively lower. Sediment moisture was significantly correlated with E. coli counts. Direct fecal input inadequately explains the widespread and consistent occurrence of E. coli in the Dunes Creek watershed; long-term survival or multiplication or both seem likely. The authors conclude that (i) E. coli is ubiquitous and persistent throughout the Dunes Creek basin, (ii) E. coli occurrence and distribution in riparian sediments help account for the continuous loading of the bacteria in Dunes Creek, and (iii) ditching of the stream, increased drainage, and subsequent loss of wetlands may account for the chronically high E. coli levels observed.


2009 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 484-496 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Udenika Wijesinghe ◽  
Yucheng Feng ◽  
C. Wesley Wood ◽  
Donald M. Stoeckel ◽  
Joey N. Shaw

Better understanding of Escherichia coli population dynamics and genetic variability in the secondary habitat is essential to improve fecal contamination monitoring and contamination pathway characterization. In this study, water samples were collected monthly over a one-year period at eight locations in the Catoma Creek watershed, a mixed land-use watershed in Central Alabama. E. coli concentrations varied from 17 to 12,650 CFU/100 ml and were well correlated with stream flow rates. Repetitive sequence-based PCR DNA fingerprinting was used to generate 271 unique DNA fingerprint patterns from 502 E. coli isolated from water samples. Cluster analysis showed an overall similarity of 32.8% across all DNA fingerprints. Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) showed that E. coli genotypes had a tendency to cluster according to season and stream flow rather than sampling sites. MANOVA of a subset of data within a given season and flow rate, however, revealed some geographical differentiation between urban and rural sampling sites. The results indicate that genetic diversity of E. coli populations was not only high in the secondary habitat but also varied with season, flow conditions and, to a lesser extent, sampling location. To our knowledge, this is the first report relating E. coli genotype to stream flow.


Author(s):  
G. Stöffler ◽  
R.W. Bald ◽  
J. Dieckhoff ◽  
H. Eckhard ◽  
R. Lührmann ◽  
...  

A central step towards an understanding of the structure and function of the Escherichia coli ribosome, a large multicomponent assembly, is the elucidation of the spatial arrangement of its 54 proteins and its three rRNA molecules. The structural organization of ribosomal components has been investigated by a number of experimental approaches. Specific antibodies directed against each of the 54 ribosomal proteins of Escherichia coli have been performed to examine antibody-subunit complexes by electron microscopy. The position of the bound antibody, specific for a particular protein, can be determined; it indicates the location of the corresponding protein on the ribosomal surface.The three-dimensional distribution of each of the 21 small subunit proteins on the ribosomal surface has been determined by immuno electron microscopy: the 21 proteins have been found exposed with altogether 43 antibody binding sites. Each one of 12 proteins showed antibody binding at remote positions on the subunit surface, indicating highly extended conformations of the proteins concerned within the 30S ribosomal subunit; the remaining proteins are, however, not necessarily globular in shape (Fig. 1).


Author(s):  
Manfred E. Bayer

Bacterial viruses adsorb specifically to receptors on the host cell surface. Although the chemical composition of some of the cell wall receptors for bacteriophages of the T-series has been described and the number of receptor sites has been estimated to be 150 to 300 per E. coli cell, the localization of the sites on the bacterial wall has been unknown.When logarithmically growing cells of E. coli are transferred into a medium containing 20% sucrose, the cells plasmolize: the protoplast shrinks and becomes separated from the somewhat rigid cell wall. When these cells are fixed in 8% Formaldehyde, post-fixed in OsO4/uranyl acetate, embedded in Vestopal W, then cut in an ultramicrotome and observed with the electron microscope, the separation of protoplast and wall becomes clearly visible, (Fig. 1, 2). At a number of locations however, the protoplasmic membrane adheres to the wall even under the considerable pull of the shrinking protoplast. Thus numerous connecting bridges are maintained between protoplast and cell wall. Estimations of the total number of such wall/membrane associations yield a number of about 300 per cell.


Author(s):  
Manfred E. Bayer

The first step in the infection of a bacterium by a virus consists of a collision between cell and bacteriophage. The presence of virus-specific receptors on the cell surface will trigger a number of events leading eventually to release of the phage nucleic acid. The execution of the various "steps" in the infection process varies from one virus-type to the other, depending on the anatomy of the virus. Small viruses like ØX 174 and MS2 adsorb directly with their capsid to the bacterial receptors, while other phages possess attachment organelles of varying complexity. In bacteriophages T3 (Fig. 1) and T7 the small conical processes of their heads point toward the adsorption site; a welldefined baseplate is attached to the head of P22; heads without baseplates are not infective.


Author(s):  
A.J. Verkleij

Freeze-fracturing splits membranes into two helves, thus allowing an examination of the membrane interior. The 5-10 rm particles visible on both monolayers are widely assumed to be proteinaceous in nature. Most membranes do not reveal impressions complementary to particles on the opposite fracture face, if the membranes are fractured under conditions without etching. Even if it is considered that shadowing, contamination or fracturing itself might obscure complementary pits', there is no satisfactory explanation why under similar physical circimstances matching halves of other membranes can be visualized. A prominent example of uncomplementarity is found in the erythrocyte manbrane. It is wall established that band 3 protein and possibly glycophorin represents these nonccmplanentary particles. On the other hand a number of membrane types show pits opposite the particles. Scme well known examples are the ";gap junction',"; tight junction, the luminal membrane of the bladder epithelial cells and the outer membrane of Escherichia coli.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document