Expert insights for smarter microbial control

Do you remember the news reports about the large oil spill in Prudhoe Bay that occurred back in 2006? On March 2nd, 2006, it was discovered that a BP-owned transit line supplying the trans-Alaska pipeline was leaking.

Since many operators like to have results reported in a format that is familiar to them, it is possible to convert the gene copies/mL obtained from a qPCR reaction into an approximate cells/mL which is a calculation based on the average amount of gene copies per organism determined from literature investigations.

For over a century, lab technicians for water treatment facilities have turned to culturable plate counts as their main weapon in quantifying the bacterial count for a system.

Compared to chlorine, which destroys the cell membrane, UV treatment is a physical process where UV light mutates and/or degrades DNA and RNA in bacterial and viral cells.

Legionella is the genus of bacteria that causes Legionnaires’ disease, a potentially fatal form of pneumonia (lung infection), and the less severe, flu-like Pontiac fever, named for the Michigan town where it was first described.

Quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (qPCR) is a DNA-based testing method that rapidly detects and quantifies microorganisms in environmental or industrial samples.

Microbial source tracking is a suite of DNA-based techniques used to determine the sources of fecal bacteria in an aquatic environment, such as a lake, river or stream.

Microbial challenges are increasingly complex and require immediate, reliable insights to manage effectively.