AWWA WQTC71351

In this work, a rapid detection method for studying the viability of L. pneumophila cells combining Propidium Monoazide (PMA) treatment and qPCR has been developed. This compound specifically intercalates and cleaves the genomic DNA from dead cells that cannot be amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). This method, applied to water samples spiked with L. pneumophila, has demonstrated a signal reduction of 4.74log if the results are compared with those obtained by qPCR without PMA, and similar results if compared with the culture isolation method. This combined assay has also proved to be useful for specific detection of cultivable L. pneumophila cells from environmental samples. Nevertheless, the qPCR combined with PMA underestimate the number of viable cells by approximately 0.6 log compared to culture isolation counts. Includes 9 references, tables, figures.