Comparison of culture and qPCR methods in detection of mycobacteria from drinking waters

Räsänen, NH; Rintala, H; Miettinen, IT; Torvinen, E

HERO ID

1668097

Reference Type

Journal Article

Year

2013

Language

English

PMID

23586753

HERO ID 1668097
In Press No
Year 2013
Title Comparison of culture and qPCR methods in detection of mycobacteria from drinking waters
Authors Räsänen, NH; Rintala, H; Miettinen, IT; Torvinen, E
Journal Canadian Journal of Microbiology
Volume 59
Issue 4
Page Numbers 280-286
Abstract Environmental mycobacteria are common bacteria in man-made water systems and may cause infections and hypersensitivity pneumonitis via exposure to water. We compared a generally used cultivation method and a quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) method to detect mycobacteria in 3 types of drinking waters: surface water, ozone-treated surface water, and groundwater. There was a correlation between the numbers of mycobacteria obtained by cultivation and qPCR methods, but the ratio of the counts obtained by the 2 methods varied among the types of water. The qPCR counts in the drinking waters produced from surface or groundwater were 5 to 34 times higher than culturable counts. In ozone-treated surface waters, both methods gave similar counts. The ozone-treated drinking waters had the highest concentration of assimilable organic carbon, which may explain the good culturability. In warm tap waters, qPCR gave 43 times higher counts than cultivation, but both qPCR counts and culturable counts were lower than those in the drinking waters collected from the same sites. The TaqMan qPCR method is a rapid and sensitive tool for total quantitation of mycobacteria in different types of clean waters. The raw water source and treatments affect both culturability and total numbers of mycobacteria in drinking waters.
Doi 10.1139/cjm-2012-0695
Pmid 23586753
Wosid WOS:000317593600009
Is Certified Translation No
Dupe Override No
Comments Source: Web of Science WOS:000317593600009
Is Public Yes
Language Text English
Keyword culture; drinking water; mycobacteria; qPCR; warm tap water