The genetic relatedness of E. coli associated with post-collection drinking water contamination in rural households

• Published in: Water S. A. Vol. 34; no. 1; pp. 107 - 111
• Main Authors: Le Roux, W., Du Preez, M., Venter, S.N., Potgieter, N.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Pretoria Water Research Commission (WRC) 01.01.2008; Water Research Commision
• Subjects: AFLP; Amplified fragment length polymorphism; Biological and medical sciences; E. coli; Earth sciences; Earth, ocean, space; Exact sciences and technology; Fingerprinting; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Genetic relatedness; Hydrology; Hydrology. Hydrogeology; Typing; Water quality; rivers; Rural environment; bacteria; Bovine; Drinking; Genetic diversity; polymorphism; storage; fragmentation; Water spring; contamination; boreholes; Vertebrata; Mammalia; prokaryotes; Fingerprint method; Water requirement; Environment; Artiodactyla; drinking water; Amplified fragment length polymorphism marker; Ungulata; Distance
• ISSN: 0378-4738; 0378-4738
• DOI: 10.4314/wsa.v34i1.180869

Rural households are often dependent on rivers, springs, boreholes or standpipes some distance from their homes for their daily water requirements. Water drinking and domestic use is consequently stored in containers in-house which are prone to post-collection contamination. The objective off the study was to determine the most likely origin or place off introduction off E. coli associated with post-collection contamination in rural households, by assessing the degree off genetic relatedness off E. coli present in the stored water and other environmental samples. E. coli isolates were obtained using either mFC agar with confirmation of indole production (44 isolates) or Colilert(R)-18 (52 isolates). Amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) fingerprinting was applied to determine the genetic relatedness of E. coli isolated in-house storage containers, drinking cups, hand-swab samples, cattle dung and from the source water (spring water). DNA fingerprints of E. coli produced a number of clusters (>85% similarity scores calculated with the cosine coefficient). Identical E. coli genetic patterns were observed at closely linked points within the domestic pathway off water handling, such as between hand-swab and drinking-cup samples, between storage container and source isolates, and between drinking cups, source water and storage containers. The results indicated that AFLP fingerprinting could be applied to determine the genetic relatedness of E. coli isolated closely linked points within the domestic pathway off water use within a household. However, the high genetic diversity observed E. coli bacteria isolated the different water and environmental samples tested in this study, hampered the identification of post collection points of contamination.