ASSESSMENTS OF THE IMPACT OF CRYPTIC E. COLI ON CURRENT WATER QUALITY MONITORING AND MANAGEMENT

The goal of this project is to overcome the limitations of current E. coli-based methods for water quality monitoring and management by assessing the impact of cryptic E. coli on the current methods. Cryptic E. coli are defined as bacteria of Escherichia spp. that are phenotypically indistinguishable but genetically divergent from real E. coli.The specific aims of this project are listed below:Objective 1: To determine the distribution and prevalence of various clades of cryptic E. coli in the U.S. Fecal samples from major fecal pollution sources, including humans, livestock, and waterfowl as well as water samples from drainage areas of different dominant land uses will be obtained and used to assess the distribution (ecological niche) and prevalence (frequency of occurrence) of various clades of cryptic E. coli. The sample locations will include farms and streams in the states of Missouri and Virginia.Objective 2: To evaluate the fate of enteric members of cryptic E. coli vs. E. coli in an aquatic environment. The representative strains of enteric members of cryptic E. coli, such as members of C-I, will be compared with those of real E. coli for their fates in response to environmental abiotic factors in a water microcosm.