Abstract
The horizontal and vertical distribution of the gram-positive, non-motile, spore-forming and rod-shaped bacterium Clostridium perfringens Holland was studied. The aim of the study was to estimate the quantity of C. perfringens at different depths of the sediment and evaluate the effect of human effluent which the lake received between 1940 and 1956. C. perfringens lives in the colon of man. Because it is spore forming and cannot multiply under a temperature of 20 °C and, according to the studies of Seppänen et al. (1979) it can be at least 300 years old, it may be a suitable paleolimnological indicator of pollution by human effluent.
The results showed that the amounts of Clostridium increased at the same level where redox potential decreased in the sediment due to the beginning of effluent disposal at a depth of 40 mm. The maximum number of Clostridium colonies occurred between 0–30 mm depth.
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Granberg, K. Clostridium perfringens (Holland) as an indicator of human effluent in the sediment of Lake Tuomiojärvi, central Finland. Hydrobiologia 103, 181–184 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00028449
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00028449