Entry of Yersinia pestis into the viable but nonculturable state in a low-temperature tap water microcosm

Yersinia pestis, the causative agent of plague, has caused several pandemics throughout history and remains endemic in the rodent populations of the western United States. More recently, Y. pestis is one of several bacterial pathogens considered to be a potential agent of bioterrorism. Thus, elucida...

Full description

Saved in:

Bibliographic Details
Published in:	PloS one 2011-03, Vol.6 (3), p.e17585-e17585
Main Authors:	Pawlowski, David R, Metzger, Daniel J, Raslawsky, Amy, Howlett, Amy, Siebert, Gretchen, Karalus, Richard J, Garrett, Stephanie, Whitehouse, Chris A
Format:	Article
Language:	eng
Subjects:	Acanthamoeba castellanii Amino acids Autoradiography Bacteria Biology Bioterrorism Campylobacter Campylobacter jejuni Chlorine Cold Temperature Colony Count, Microbial Deoxyribonuclease Deoxyribonuclease I - metabolism Deoxyribonucleic acid DNA Drinking water E coli Electron microscopy Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel Enterococcus faecalis Epidemics Escherichia coli Immunology Infectious diseases Laboratory methods Legionella Low temperature Medical research Microbial Viability Nucleases Pandemics Pathogens Physical characteristics Plague Resuscitation Risk assessment Rounding Siphonaptera Temperature effects Vibrio alginolyticus Vibrio cholerae Vibrio vulnificus Water Microbiology Water Supply Yersinia pestis Yersinia pestis - cytology Yersinia pestis - physiology Yersinia pestis - ultrastructure
Online Access:	Get full text
Tags:	Add Tag No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!

Description
Summary:	Yersinia pestis, the causative agent of plague, has caused several pandemics throughout history and remains endemic in the rodent populations of the western United States. More recently, Y. pestis is one of several bacterial pathogens considered to be a potential agent of bioterrorism. Thus, elucidating potential mechanisms of survival and persistence in the environment would be important in the event of an intentional release of the organism. One such mechanism is entry into the viable but non-culturable (VBNC) state, as has been demonstrated for several other bacterial pathogens. In this study, we showed that Y. pestis became nonculturable by normal laboratory methods after 21 days in a low-temperature tap water microcosm. We further show evidence that, after the loss of culturability, the cells remained viable by using a variety of criteria, including cellular membrane integrity, uptake and incorporation of radiolabeled amino acids, and protection of genomic DNA from DNase I digestion. Additionally, we identified morphological and ultrastructural characteristics of Y. pestis VBNC cells, such as cell rounding and large periplasmic spaces, by electron microscopy, which are consistent with entry into the VBNC state in other bacteria. Finally, we demonstrated resuscitation of a small number of the non-culturable cells. This study provides compelling evidence that Y. pestis persists in a low-temperature tap water microcosm in a viable state yet is unable to be cultured under normal laboratory conditions, which may prove useful in risk assessment and remediation efforts, particularly in the event of an intentional release of this organism.
ISSN:	1932-6203 1932-6203