Abstract:
Microbiological quality of the Ghanaian Volta clam (Galatea paradoxa) was assessed by fecal coliform and total aerobic bacteria counts. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with universal eubacterial 16S and 23S rDNA primers was also used to show the presence of bacteria in samples of the gut fluid and mantle tissues. The clams were found to be laden with potential pathogenic bacteria identified by conventional methods. Twenty bacteria species were isolated. They were Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella ornithinolytica, Flavobacterium meningosepticum, Enterobacter aerogenes, E. agglomerans, E. cloacae, Aeromonas sobria, Acinetobacter sp, Vibrio cholerae, Micrococcus radiodurans, Streptococcus faecalis, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Citrobacter freundii, Chromobacterium violaceum, Morganella morganii, Proteus mirabilis, Salmonella sp., Serratia marcescens and Yersinia intermedia. With PCR, bacterial DNA fragments were detected in 16.7% (2/12) of clam gut and 83.3% (10/12) of mantle tissues. Bacteria load in the clam mantle tissue was higher than in the gut.