title: Specific Single-Cell Isolation of Escherichia coli O157 from Environmental Water Samples by Using Flow Cytometry and Fluorescence-Activated Cell Sorting.
abstract: Contamination of food and water with pathogenic bacteria is of concern. Although culture-independent detection and quantification of pathogens is useful, isolation of pathogenic bacteria is still important when identifying the sources of pathogens. Here, we report the use of flow cytometry (FCM) and fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) to specifically detect and isolate individual Escherichia coli O157:H7 cells from water samples. When present at >10 cells/mL water, target pathogen was specifically detected and isolated. The FACS-sorted E. coli O157:H7 population reflected the original population diversity, in contrast to the populations obtained by immunomagnetic separation. Relative abundance of multiple pathogenic strains is important when performing source-tracking studies; therefore, single-cell isolation with FCM-FACS can be a useful tool to obtain pathogenic bacteria for source tracking purpose.
authors.affiliation: 1 Division of Environmental Engineering, Hokkaido University , Sapporo, Japan .
authors.forename: Shuji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ozawa
authors.affiliation: 1 Division of Environmental Engineering, Hokkaido University , Sapporo, Japan .
authors.forename: Satoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Okabe
authors.affiliation: 1 Division of Environmental Engineering, Hokkaido University , Sapporo, Japan .|2 Department of Soil, Water, and Climate, BioTechnology Institute, University of Minnesota , St. Paul, Minnesota.
authors.forename: Satoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ishii
mesh_terms: D019453:Escherichia coli O157 / Q000166:cytology / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D005434:Flow Cytometry / Q000379:methods*; D005516:Food Microbiology; D014871:Water Microbiology