YEASTS AND COLIFORM BACTERIA OF WATER ACCUMULATED IN BROMELIADS OF MANGROVE AND SAND DUNE ECOSYSTEMS OF SOUTHEAST BRAZIL

Yeasts and coliform bacteria were isolated from water that accumulated in the central cups and adjacent leaf axilae of two bromeliads, Neore gelia cruenta of a coastal sand dune and Quesnelia quesneliana of a ma ngrove ecosystem near the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The mean tot al coliform counts were above 10 000 per 100 mL for waters of both pla nts, but the mean fecal coliform counts were only 74 per 100 mL for Q. quesneliana and mostly undetected in water from N. cruenta. Of 90 fec al coliform isolates, 51 were typical of Escherichia coli in colony mo rphology and indol, methyl red, Volges-Proskauer, and citrate (IMViC) tests. Seven representatives of the typical E. coli cultures were iden tified as this species, but the identifications of nine other coliform bacteria were mostly dubious. The yeast community of N. cruenta was t ypical of plant surfaces with basidiomycetous yeasts anamorphs, and th e black yeast Aureobasidium pullulans was prevalent. Quesnelia quesnel iana had a substantial proportion of ascomycetous yeasts and their ana morphs, including a probable new biotype of Saccharomyces unisporus. O ur results suggested that the microbial communities in bromeliad water s are typically autochtonous and not contaminants.