Applicability of LIVE/DEAD BacLight stain with glutaraldehyde fixation for the measurement of bacterial abundance and viability in rainwater

Rainwater contains substantial bacteria and rain is an efficient pathway for the dissemination of bacteria from the atmosphere to land and water surfaces. However, quantitative information on rainwater bacteria is very limited due to the lack of a reliable method. In this study, the epifluorescence microscopy enumeration with the LIVE/DEAD BacLight Bacterial Viability Kit stain was verified to quantify the abundance of viable and non-viable bacterial cells in rainwater, with the 4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) stain for the reference of total cell counts. Results showed that the total counts of bacterial cells by LIVE/DEAD BacLight staining were consistent with those by DAPI staining, and the average detection efficiency was (109 ± 29)%. The ratio of cell count with glutaraldehyde fixation to that without fixation was (106 ± 5)% on average. The bacterial concentration in negative control was usually an order of magnitude lower than that in rainwater samples. However, in case of small precipitation, the abundance in negative control could be more than that in rainwater samples. These results indicate that the enumeration with LIVE/DEAD BacLight bacterial viability assay coupled with glutaraldehyde fixation and careful negative control investigation is an approach applicable to the measurement of the concentration and viability of bacterial cells in rainwater.