Clay mineral type effect on bacterial enteropathogen survivial in soil

Enteropathogens released into the environment can represent a serious risk to public health. Soil clay content has long been known to have an important effect on enteropathogen survival in soil, generally enhancing survival. However, clay mineral composition in soils varies, and different clay minerals have specific physiochemical properties that would be expected to impact differentially on survival. Thiswork investigated the effect of claymaterials, with a predominance of a particular mineral type (montmorillonite, kaolinite, or illite), on the survival in soil microcosms over 96 days of Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella Dublin, and Escherichia coli O157. Claymineral addition was found to alter a number of physicochemical parameters in soil, including cation exchange capacity and surface area, and this was specific to the mineral type. Clay mineral addition enhanced enteropathogen survival in soil. The type of claymineralwas found to differentially affect enteropathogen survival and the effectwas enteropathogen-specific. © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.