International Conference and Expo on Water Microbiology & Novel Technologies July 18-19, 2016 Chicago, Illinois, USA

Liliana S. Lösch is biochemistry of Instituto de Medicina Regional de la Universidad Nacional del Nordeste in Chaco, Argentina. She has completed her MSC in Tropical\r\nMedicine. Her main interests are waterborne pathogens in particular Legionella and diarrheagenic Escherichia coli and to apply molecular approaches to assess water\r\nquality and pathogenic risks.

Introduction: Legionella genus includes species that are found in a variety of aquatic environments. Th ey are able to survive in a wide\r\nrange of physicochemical conditions and colonize distribution systems and storage of drinking water. L. pneumophila is the primary\r\npathogen transmitted by water that produces 90% of cases of Legionnaires’ disease.\r\nTh ere is little information of the incidence of Legionnaires’ disease in Latin America. In Argentina the incidence of pnuemonias\r\nas a consequence of Legionella infection is approximately 2%. Nonetheless there is no information of the occurrence of Legionella in\r\nengineered systems in the country.\r\nObjetive: Th e aim of this study was detect the presence of Legionella pneumophila in household drinking water tanks of the city of\r\nResistencia, Chaco.\r\nMethods: Th e sampling was non-probabilistic for convenience. Th irty two water samples taken from diff erent points in the city\r\nwere studied. Legionella detection in the samples was performed by culture as set out in the ISO standard 11731:1998. Real-time\r\npolymerase chain reaction (qPCR) assay was applied to isolates obtained by culture and identifi ed as Legionella spp according to the\r\nISO standards. Th e target sequences used corresponded to 23S rRNA gene, for the confi rmation of the genus, and mip gene specifi c\r\nfor the species L. pneumophila.\r\nResults: In 12 (37.5%) of the 32 samples studied, Legionella spp was recovered. Th e presence of L. pneumophila was confi rmed by\r\nqPCR in all positive samples. In addition, 3 of these samples (9.5%) were also positive for another species of the genus Legionella.\r\nTh e number of samples studies represents 0.03% of households connected to the public water distribution system of Resistencia city.\r\nConclusion: Th is study demonstrated the presence of L. pneumophila and other Legionella species in residential drinking water\r\nreservoirs of Resistencia city. Also it represents the fi rst report of the surveillance of this organism in engineered water systems of\r\nArgentina.\r\nAcknowledgements: “Investigación fi nanciada por el Programa de Becas Carrillo-Oñativia, Comisión Nacional Salud Investiga,\r\nMinisterio de Salud de la Nación” y por la Secretaría General de Ciencia y Técnica de la Universidad Nacional del Nordeste.\r\nPI17/12L003

Rod Mateo has completed his MD from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine and Fellowship studies from the University of Pittsburgh, School of Medicine. He is the Surgical\r\nDirector of Halifax Center for Transplant Services, a taxing district healthcare organization. He has published more than 40 papers in reputed journals and is serving as an\r\nExecutive Board Member of the National Kidney Foundation of Florida.

Background: Holy water from fonts in Christian churches have been cultured and found to contain enteropathic bacteria. Th e aim\r\nof this study is to determine a cost-eff ective, anti-bacterial agent with a sustained duration of action that can be safely added to holy\r\nwater.\r\nMethods: Holy water from 4 area churches was cultured at temperatures simulating ambient temperatures in these churches. Positive\r\nsamples were combined into a master sample (MS) to represent average microbial content and densities. 10% to 100% concentrations\r\neach of liquid bathroom cleaner (L), 70% rubbing alcohol (A), dishwashing liquid (D), bleach (B), hydrogen peroxide (P) were\r\nindividually added to the MS and cultured. Th e lowest concentration exhibiting no growth was determined for each cleaning liquid\r\n(BC) and unit costs were analyzed. Comparable cost-eff ective combinations of (BC+MS) solutions were then cultured 2, 4 and 6 days\r\naft er preparation to determine sustainability of eff ect. MS was added daily to solutions to simulate continuing exposure to bacteria.\r\nResults: All church samples were positive for bacterial growth. Cultures with added 10% solutions of L (L10), B (B10), or P (P10)\r\nexhibited no growth. B10 had 1 colony detected aft er 6 days, while cultures using P10 were negative for the entire duration.\r\nConclusion: An optimal concentration of ~1.4% peroxide in holy water was found to be a cost-eff ective agent with anti-bacterial\r\nproperties present during a time period refl ecting the interval between weekly water changes. Costs for maintenance water treatments\r\namounted to approximately <$0.02 per gallon of water treated.

Meryam Sardar has completed her PhD in Biochemistry from Indian Institute of Technology, India. She has obtained her Master’s in Biotechnology from Aligarh Muslim\r\nUniversity, Aligarh, India. She is presently working as an Associate Professor in the Department of Biosciences, Jamia Millia Islamia, India. She is actively involved in the\r\nbiotechnological applications of immobilized enzymes and nanoparticles. She has published more than 25 papers in reputed journals and has published four book chapters.

Nanoparticles represent a promising new technology for waste water remediation, not only because of their high treatment\r\neffi ciency, but also for their cost-eff ectiveness, as they have the fl exibility for in situ and ex situ applications. Among nanoparticles,\r\nnanosilver has become one of the most popular nanoparticles due to its applications in diverse areas. It is currently being used for\r\na wide variety of commercial products including medical applications, water purifi cation, antimicrobial uses, paints, coatings and\r\nfood packaging. Improvement in sustainable and eco-friendly protocols for synthesis of silver nanoparticles is a signifi cant step\r\nin the fi eld of application nanotechnology. One approach that shows vast potential is based on the biosynthesis of nanoparticles\r\nusing plant extracts. Th e present study shows biological synthesis of silver nanoparticles using ethanolic extracts of two medicinal\r\nplants. Th e synthesis was done using Ocimum sanctum and Artemesia annua leaf extracts. Aft er exposing the silver nitrate solution\r\nto the leaf extracts, the rapid reduction of silver ions led to the formation of silver nanoparticles in solution. Th e synthesized silver\r\nnanoparticles were characterized by UV-VIS, TEM, HR-TEM, EDX, XRD, SAED and FTIR. Th e Ocimum sanctum and Artemesia\r\nannua assisted silver nanoparticles were studied for their potential to remove phenols, textile dyes and microbial contaminants from\r\nwater. Th e silver nanoparticles from Ocimum sanctum can catalyze the reduction of 4NP within 20 min in presence of NaBH4. Th e\r\nsynthesized nanoparticles can effi ciently adsorb toxic textile dyes (Reactive Blue 4, Reactive Orange 4 and Reactive Red 120) from\r\naqueous solutions. Further, water sample collected from Yamuna River was tested and treated with biologically synthesized silver\r\nnanoparticles. Aft er treatment, a sharp reduction was observed in all the physical and chemical parameters such as pH, odour, color,\r\n(dissolved oxygen) DO and Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) etc in the sample throughout the investigations. Th e antimicrobial\r\nactivity of the synthesized nanoparticles was also exploited to remove microbial contaminants from Yamuna River. Th e nanoparticles\r\nshow excellent antimicrobial properties and can be reused repeatedly. Using these nanoparticles, pathogenic bacteria, phenols and\r\ndyes present in contaminated water can be treated simultaneously without using any chemicals.