Dangerous strains of E. coli may linger longer in water

Submitted by Luis Kun

homelandsecuritynewswire.com - June 14th, 2013

A toxin dangerous to humans may help E. coli fend off aquatic predators, enabling strains of E. coli that produce the toxin to survive longer in lake water than benign counterparts, a new study finds.

Researchers from the University at Buffalo and Mercyhurst University reported these results online 7 June in the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

“The take-home lesson is that E. coli that produce Shiga toxin persisted longer in recreational water than E. coli that don’t produce this toxin,” said UB Professor of Biological Sciences Gerald Koudelka, Ph.D., who led the study. “This is because the toxin appears to help E. coli resist predation by bacterial grazers.”

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