VIABILITY DETECTION AND QUANTIFICATION ASSAY OF WATERBORNE PATHOGENS BY ENRICHMENT

摘要

A process for detecting viable waterborne pathogens in a water sample, includes enriching a concentrate of bacteria from the sample and taking a first DNA extract at time T₀ and a second DNA extract at time T₂ after an incubation period. Real-time polymerase chain reaction performed on the DNA extracts yields respective cycle threshold values Ct. The change in Ct provides an indication of the targeted pathogen in the sample. An order of magnitude quantification of the sample can also be performed using a serial dilution technique on the T₀ DNA extract. The process has particular application for detecting Legionella, including viable but not culturable cells.