Salmonella identification after incubation in the soil

We have tried to study the fate of Salmonella strains in soil. We have looked at their biochemical modifications during their evolution to dormant state and during their reviviscence. The beta galactosidase which is negative in the parent strain became positive after two weeks of cells starvation in soil. Stressed cells became able to produce acetoin. Some stressed cells did not produce the lysine decarboxylase, which is positive in parent cells. These modifications are reversible and depend on cultural conditions. Incubation of stressed cells in nutrient broth for more than four weeks helped them to reverse to normal forms. Simultaneous search for atypical Salmonella was done in dissect sludge of a domestic wastewater treatment plant and in soil irrigated with treated water. Atypical strains of Salmonella are found. We have seen that, after incubation in nutrient broth for more than four weeks, atypical strains characters evolved generally to their parental characters. All modifications of Salmonella in soil samples can make their identification very difficult and perhaps impossible.