Investigation of the complex microbial community in freshwater sediments in Saidenbach drinking water reservoir, Germany

Drinking water is one of the most valuable resourees on our planet. Not only water availability, but also its ehemieal and biologieal quality plays an important ro le. Pathogenie mieroorganisms in the water ean affeet human health and inerease the eosts for drinking water treatment. One way that pathogenie mieroorganisms enter a water body is, for instanee, by erosion of agrieultural eatehment areas. Another health risk eomes from viruses that ean also be transmitted through water (FouT et al. 2003, PuscH et al. 2005). Beeause a large nurnber of baeteria and viruses reside in sediments, they might serve as long term memory markers of environmental impaets on water bodies. The diversity o f these baeteria and viruses is largely unknown. Mieroorganisms are involved in the eycle of organie matter and might influenee water quality. Pathogenie baeteria ean al so be among the huge variety of mieroorganisms in the sediment. Direetly deteeting individual pathogenie baeteria is often diffieult; therefore, indicators sueh as Escherichia coli are used to estimate the load of feeal eontaminations. Coliphages are a type of virus that infeet E. coli and also might be useful as an indieator for feeal eontamination. W e investigated the diversity o f the mieroorganisms in the sediment o f the drinking water reservoir, Saidenbaeh, in Germany, with speeial emphasis on the identifieation of potentially pathogenie baeteria.