Affiliations: Animal Biotechnology Centre, Department of Veterinary
Physiology and Biochemistry G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology,
Pantnagar, Uttarakhand, India - 263145 | Department of Microbiology, G.B. Pant University of
Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar Uttarakhand, India - 263145
Abstract: River Ganges is one of the most important rivers of India. This
important and sacred river is becoming contaminated day by day. In the present
study, 500 water samples were collected from river Ganges and screened for
presence of Salmonella by PCR. Out of 500 samples, 44 were found to be positive
for Salmonella and Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium was the most common
serovar isolated from 24 samples. These isolates were screened for presence of
stn, inv A and pef A genes which are mainly responsible for virulence of
Salmonella. In 21 isolates stn gene was present, while inv A and pef A genes
were present in 22 and 18 isolates respectively. In 15 isolates, all three
virulent genes were present. The present study indicates that these isolates
may be virulent and being a serious cause of health problems both in animals
and humans.
Keywords: River Ganges, water, Salmonella, pollution, virulence contributing genes
