[Myxobacteria of the Myxococcus family as indirect indicators of fecal matter in surface water. 1. Communication (author's transl)].

The fruiting-body-forming Myxobacteria of the Myxococcus order are coprophilic, i.e., they accumulate in biotopes that contain faecal substances. Therefore, a special detection of Myxococcus in water, based on the membrane-filter method, has been worked-out. Field studies, undertaken in the region of a mechanico-biological clarifying plant, above a certain stretch of a stream (the Regnitz) laden with waste-water, and on the Bodensee (=Lake Constance) have revealed a clear correlation between the load of faecal substances in such waters and their content of Myxococci. In this way, then, these germs can be used as indirect bacterial indicators of faecal substances.