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Legiolert® is a new culture method for quantification of Legionella pneumophila, which is the primary species associated with Legionnaires’ disease. The test is based on a most probable number approach, and differs significantly from traditional culture methods by providing results at 7 days, rapid sample preparation and analysis, and objective interpretation of test results. In this study, we compared the performance of Legiolert with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) method for detection of L. pneumophila from non-potable samples, primarily comprising cooling tower waters. Our results demonstrated no significant difference between Legiolert and the CDC method for quantification of L. pneumophila. However, Legiolert showed a significant increase in sensitivity when water samples containing higher L. pneumophila concentrations were examined. Cooling tower waters often contain non-Legionella organisms (NLO) that interfere with traditional Legionella test methods, and we observed varying degrees of NLO interference on many CDC method plates. In contrast, Legiolert was resistant to NLO interference and produced a very low rate of false-positive results. Collectively, Legiolert is a sensitive and specific method for quantification of L. pneumophila from non-potable water that provides advantages over the CDC method.

Endophytic fungi were isolated from leaves of eastern larch (Larix laricina (Du Roi) K. Koch) collected in Saint John County, New Brunswick, Canada. Two thousand three hundred and six isolates were obtained from 1600 leaves (6400 leaf segments) from 40 trees. Isolates were obtained from 36.0% of the segments. These were distributed among 73.9% of the leaves. Multiple isolates (two or more) were obtained from 12.8% of the leaves but 26.1% of the leaves had no endophyte isolated whatsoever. The isolate designated RP31 accounted for 84.2% of all isolates and was the lone endophyte isolated from 46.5% of the leaves. Isolates RPB82, RPB65, and coelomycete 3 accounted for 10.2% of all isolates obtained. Of the 10 taxa isolated, RP31, RPB82, RPB65, and coelomycete 3 represented 98.1% of the total number of isolates. There was no significant (p > 0.05) difference in the number of isolations between leaf segments from the petiole to the tip when all isolates were considered together. However, if RP31 was excluded from the analysis, the remaining isolates were isolated significantly (p > 0.05) more frequently from the petiole segment.Key words: endophytic fungi, Larix laricina, leaves, deciduous.