冰川生态系统固碳微生物研究进展

[目的] 海南海口含有丰富的温泉资源,对温泉微生物多样性进行研究,有助于进一步开发和利用海南温泉微生物资源。[方法] 本文采用Illumina HiSeq高通量测序技术对海口3个温泉[海甸岛荣域温泉（S1）、火山口开心农场温泉（S2）和西海岸海长流温泉（S3）] 水样中微生物ITS序列和16S rRNA基因V3-V4区进行测序及生物信息学分析,探究海口市3个不同区域的温泉真菌多样性与细菌多样性。[结果] （1）α多样性分析表明,真菌群落中,S3 > S1 > S2,而在细菌群落中,S2 > S1 > S3。β多样性分析表明,3个温泉真菌群落和细菌群落组成差异皆显著。（2）分类分析表明,温泉真菌群落优势菌门为子囊菌门（Ascomycota）和担子菌门（Basidiomycota）,细菌群落优势菌门为变形菌门（Proteobacteria）、拟杆菌门（Bacteroidetes）、Thermi、硝化螺旋菌门（Nitrospirae）、绿菌门（Chlorobi）、厚壁菌门（Firmicutes）、绿弯菌门（Chloroflexi）、放线菌门（Actinobacteria）。（3）CCA（Canonical correspondence analysis）分析表明,3个温泉的真菌群落主要影响因子是温度,细菌群落主要影响因子是总磷。[结论] 海南省海口市温泉中含有丰富的微生物资源,其微生物群落组成受多种环境因子影响,且影响真菌和细菌的主要环境因子不同。     

基于16S rRNA基因高通量测序研究狞猫肠道微生物多样性

[目的]研究狞猫肠道微生物多样性特征。[方法]对7只健康成年野生狞猫（2只雄性,5只雌性;2只来自济南野生动物园,5只来自威海野生动物园）粪便微生物16S rRNA基因V3-V4区进行高通量测序,对狞猫肠道微生物多样性进行研究。[结果] 7只狞猫共获得肠道微生物16S rRNA基因V3-V4区有效序列1458741条,平均208392条,序列平均长度433 bp。通过以97%的序列相似性进行分类,获得操作分类单元（OTU）平均 233个。经序列比对和分类鉴定,这些OTU都属于细菌域,包括13个门,26个纲,43个目,75个科,119个属。其中,丰度最高的细菌门是厚壁菌门（Firmicutes,平均占61.7%）、放线菌门（Actinobacteria,12.42%）、拟杆菌门（Bacteroidetes,7.79%）、梭杆菌门（Fusobacteroidetes,7.79%）和变形菌门（Proteobacteria,7.53%）。丰度最高的科依次是消化链球菌科（Peptostreptococcaceae,平均占16.15%）,梭菌科I（Clostridiaceae_I,14.78%）,毛螺菌科（Lachnospiraceae,13.13%）,红蝽杆菌科（Coriobacteriaceae,12.31%）等。丰度最高的属是柯林斯氏菌属（Collinsella,11.44%）,艰难梭菌属（Peptoclostridium,10.91%）,狭窄梭菌属1（Clostridium_sensu_stricto_1,10.3%）,拟杆菌属（Bacteroides,7.41%）,消化链球菌属（Peptostreptococcus,5.21%）等。7只狞猫的肠道微生物中有平均15.35%的OTU没有归类到属。样本间聚类分析结果表明,来自同一动物园的样本聚为一支。[结论]本文通过高通量测序技术研究了狞猫肠道微生物的组成和多样性特征,为狞猫的救护饲养和消化生理学研究提供基础数据。     

拟诺卡氏菌16S rRNA,gyrB,sod和rpoB基因的系统发育分析

为了更好地了解拟诺卡氏菌属(Nocardiopsis)各物种间的系统发育关系,该属现有有效描述种的gyrB,sod和rpoB基因的部分序列被测定,结合16S rRNA基因,对拟诺卡氏菌属进行了系统发育重建。研究发现拟诺卡氏菌属gyrB,sod和rpoB基因的平均相似性分别为87.7%、87.3%和94.1%,而16S rRNA基因的平均相似性则达到96.65%,3个看家基因均比16S rRNA具有更高的分歧度。比较基于不同基因的系统树发现,由gyrB基因得到的系统树拓扑结构与16S rRNA得到的结构在亚群上基本一致。因此,gyrB基因在拟诺卡氏菌属的系统分类上比16S rRNA基因更具优越性。     

猎豹(Acinonyx jubatus)肠道微生物多样性及其性别差异研究

[目的]探讨猎豹（Acinonyx jubatus）肠道微生物多样性特征。[方法]通过采集新鲜粪便样品,对9只健康成年野生猎豹（4只雄性,5只雌性）的肠道微生物16S rRNA基因V3-V4区进行高通量测序,对猎豹肠道微生物多样性进行研究。[结果]测序共获得肠道微生物16S rRNA基因V3-V4区有效序列599349条,序列平均长度405 bp。通过以97%的序列相似性进行分类,共获得操作分类单元（OTU） 268个。经序列比对和分类鉴定,这些OTU都属于细菌域,包括10个门,21个纲,35个目,72个科,144个属。其中,丰度最高的5个细菌门是厚壁菌门（Firmicutes,平均占OTU总数的42.29%%）、放线菌门（Actinobacteria,31.54%）、梭杆菌门（Fusobacteroidetes,16.66%）、变形菌门（Proteobacteria,5.30%）和拟杆菌门（Bacteroidetes,4.19%）。拟杆菌门的丰度较低是猎豹肠道微生物的主要特征。丰度最高的5个科依次是红蝽杆菌科（Coriobacteriaceae,31.28%）、消化链球菌科（Peptostreptococcaceae,平均占17.66%）,梭杆菌科（Fusobacteriaceae,15.46%）、毛螺菌科（Lachnospiraceae,12.40%）、梭菌科I（Clostridiaceae_I,6.93%）等。丰度最高的5个属依次是柯林斯氏菌属（Collinsella,30.16%）、梭杆菌属（Fusobacterium,15.46%）、艰难梭菌属（Peptoclostridium,11.46%）、Blautia属（8.28%）和狭窄梭菌属1（Clostridium_sensu_stricto_1,6.39%）。约有2.32%的OTU没有归类到属。群落alpha多样性分析结果显示,猎豹肠道微生物群落Shannon指数为2.93-4.41,Simpson指数为0.72-0.91。通过依据性别进行分组,对雌雄两组之间的alpha多样性比较表明,雄性组的物种和Shannon指数略高于雌性组。Beta多样性分析表明,雌雄两组之间的差异高于各组内部不同个体之间的差异。然而,聚类分析显示,相同性别的猎豹的肠道微生物并没有聚在一起。[结论]本文通过高通量测序技术研究了猎豹肠道微生物多样性特征和性别差异,为猎豹的保护、救护饲养和消化生理学研究提供了基础数据。     

一株羊源A型多杀性巴氏杆菌的全基因组测序及生物学特性分析

[背景] 多杀性巴氏杆菌（Pasteurella multocida,Pm）是一种革兰氏阴性菌,可引起动物和人类的呼吸道疾病和败血症等。本实验室前期分离鉴定一株A型Pm HN02菌株。[目的] 通过对HN02菌株的全基因组测序及生物信息学分析,扩充多杀性巴氏杆菌的基因组数据库信息;通过毒力基因鉴定和系统进化树分析,明确该菌株含有的毒力基因和遗传进化关系,为临床预防和诊断提供理论依据。[方法] 使用单分子实时测序（Single Molecule Real Time Sequencing,SMRT）技术对Pm HN02菌株进行全基因组测序,利用Illumina测序校正后进行基因功能注释和生物信息学分析。使用PCR鉴定菌株毒力基因,并构建进化树进行分析。[结果] Pm HN02菌株全基因组大小为2 333 292 bp,GC含量为40.15mol%,预测到的编码基因有2 389个,包含19个rRNA （6个23S rRNA、6个16S rRNA、7个5S rRNA）、62个tRNA基因、5个sRNA;含84个串联重复序列、66个小卫星DNA、2个微卫星DNA、9个基因岛、9个前噬菌体;分别有1 648、2 190和1 917个基因注释在GO、KEGG和COG数据库中,而且大部分富集于Pm的代谢过程;还有85个III型分泌系统效应蛋白、191个表型突变基因、165个毒力因子相关基因。根据分析结果绘制该菌株的全基因组圈图,并将基因组信息提交至NCBI后获得登录号cp037865。PCR鉴定发现该菌株含有fimA、toxA等14个毒力基因,缺失了tadD等毒力基因。系统进化树分析发现该菌株同北京的Pm3菌株（MH150895.1）进化关系最接近。[结论] 研究完成了A型Pm HN02株的全基因组测序和生物学特性鉴定,揭示了其同国内外Pm分离株的进化关系,为预防Pm疾病流行和探索Pm致病机制提供了参考。     

硇洲岛牡蛎相关细菌抗菌筛选及系统发育分析

以8个敏感菌株作为指示菌,采用管碟法对分离自湛江硇洲岛（20°52′N～20°56′N,110°33′E～110°38′E）潮汐带香港巨牡蛎(Crassostrea hongkongensis)中的72株细菌的发酵液进行抗菌筛选,并对阳性菌株进行基因组DNA提取、16S rRNA基因PCR扩增和序列测定,继而进行系统发育分析。抗菌实验结果表明,受试菌株中有23株菌的发酵产物具有抗菌活性（阳性率31.9%）,其中有5个菌株（JSM 111024、JSM 111027、JSM 111029、JSM 111076、JSM 111083）具有较强的抗菌活性。基于16S rRNA基因序列的系统发育分析表明,这23株菌具有较高的类群多样性和物种多样性,属于3个系统发育群/门(Alpha Proteobacteria、Gamma Proteobacteria、Bacteroidetes)中的8个科(Aeromonadaceae、Flavobacteriaceae、Halomonadaceae、Idiomarinaceae、Phyllobacteriaceae、Pseudoalteromonadaceae、Shewanellaceae、Xanthomonadaceae)的8个属(Idiomarina、Halomonas、Myroides、Nitratireductor、Oceanimonas、Pseudoalteromonas、Shewanella、Wohlfahrtiimonas),可分为11个物种。优势类群为Gamma Proteobacteria亚门（14株）,其中优势属为Oceanimonas属（6株）;第二大类群为Bacteroidetes门（7株）,都属于Flavobacteriaceae科的Myroides属。具有较强抗菌活性的5个菌株中,有4个菌株（JSM 111024、JSM 111027、JSM 111029、JSM 111083）属于Alpha Proteobacteria 亚门Phyllobacteriaceae科〖WTBX〗Oceanimonas属,而菌株JSM 111076属于Gamma Proteobacteria 亚门Aeromonadaceae科Nitratireductor属。     

叶酸调控对高尿酸血症大鼠肠道微生物的影响

探究叶酸对高尿酸血症大鼠肠道微生物的影响,为治疗高尿酸血症提供新思路。将SPF 级雄性大鼠分为空白对照组、模型组和叶酸组,采集大鼠的粪便样本,采用16S rRNA高通量测序技术分析肠道微生物的多样性、群落组成以及结构的变化。研究结果显示,Alpha多样性和Beta多样性分析表明,空白对照组、模型组和叶酸组大鼠粪便中微生物多样性和群落组成存在明显差异,其中模型组大鼠粪便微生物具有较高的物种丰度和种群差异性。对门分类水平上的物种丰度分析发现,微生物种群主要由厚壁菌门（Firmicutes）和拟杆菌门（Bacteroidetes）组成;对属分类水平上的物种丰度分析发现,微生物种群由乳杆菌属（Lactobacillus）、Muribaculaceae、拟杆菌属（Bacteroides）、柯林斯菌属（Collinsella）、梭菌属（Clostridium）、罗姆布茨菌（Romboutsia）、劳特氏菌属（Blautia）和毛螺菌科NK4A136群（Lachnospiraceae NK4A136_group）等菌属组成,与空白对照组相比,模型组中Muribaculaceae和柯林斯菌属的丰度显著升高,乳杆菌属、梭菌属、罗姆布茨菌和毛螺菌科的丰度显著下降;叶酸组中Muribaculaceae、拟杆菌属、柯林斯菌属和劳特氏菌属的丰度显著升高,梭菌属、罗姆布茨菌和毛螺菌科的丰度显著下降。研究探索了叶酸干预调控高尿酸血症大鼠肠道微生物的变化,为治疗高尿酸血症提供参考。     

基于单基因和联合基因的新疆黑条小车蝗种群遗传多样性分析

黑条小车蝗〔Oedaleus decorus decorus （Germar）〕是新疆温性荒漠草原最为重要的蝗害之一,目前关于新疆该蝗种群的遗传多样性和亲缘关系尚不明确。测定了新疆黑条小车蝗14个地理种群194条序列的线粒体COI和ND5基因,通过单基因和联合基因分析比较新疆该蝗的遗传多样性和遗传分化情况,并基于可信度高的联合基因探讨新疆该蝗种群可能的扩散路径。黑条小车蝗14个地理种群的COI和ND5联合基因均表现出高遗传多样性（Hd为0.904 8~1.000 0,Pi为0.010 0~0.341 5）,且各种群间遗传分化较大,基因交流不充分（Fst为0.385 1,Nm为0.40）。种群间的遗传差异来源于种群内部（80.03%）,并且地理距离可能不是影响种群间遗传距离的主要因素。综合遗传多样性分析,单倍型网络图和系统发育树结果显示联合基因较于单基因可信度更高。新疆黑条小车蝗遗传分化较高的种群可能主要由地形地貌所致,遗传分化较低的种群可能受西北季风影响;新疆黑条小车蝗种群的早期建立种可能来源于伊犁地区,一支经天山山脉扩散至博乐、乌市及哈密地区,另一支由塔城地区经准噶尔盆地扩散至富蕴县。     

西藏青稞根际细菌群落结构及多样性

【目的】分析西藏不同种植区青稞根际土壤细菌群落结构及其影响因素，揭示特定环境下根际细菌生物标志物，为发掘研究优异根际促生菌及其作用提供参考。【方法】采用16S rRNA基因高通量测序技术和数据统计分析，比较了西藏5个市青稞种植区根际土壤细菌群落组成和结构差异，分析了青稞根际细菌生物标志物及群落结构变化的驱动因素。【结果】通过测序45个根际土壤样品获得10 715个操作分类单元（operational taxonomic units，OTUs），共43门、1 244属、2 783种，其中放线菌门（Actinobacteriota）、变形菌门（Proteobacteria）、绿弯菌门（Chloroflexi）、酸杆菌门（Acidobacteriota）、拟杆菌门（Bacteroidota）、厚壁菌门（Firmicutes）、芽单胞菌门（Gemmatimonadota）、粘球菌门（Myxococcota）和髌骨细菌门（Patescibacteria）为优势菌门，相对丰度占比94.92%-96.56%。五个市的根际细菌群落结构存在明显的差异，组间差异大于组内差异（R=0.226 9，P=0.001），其中放线菌门、绿弯菌门、酸杆菌门、拟杆菌门和髌骨细菌门丰度存在显著性差异（P<0.05）。五个市青稞根际土壤存在潜在生物标志物，拉萨和山南只有3个和6个特有细菌进化支，共现网络更为复杂、OTUs间联系更为紧密。变形菌门、绿弯菌门、放线菌门和酸杆菌门是青稞根际土壤中主要的关键细菌门，内生菌门、Methylomirabilota和蓝细菌分别是林芝市、日喀则市和山南市的特有关键类群。青稞根际细菌群落结构的变化主要与环境因子pH、全钾（total potassium，TK）、速效钾（available potassium，AK）、碳磷比（C：P）和海拔有关，其中TK是影响根际土壤细菌群落最重要的因子（r²=0.621 4，P=0.001）。【结论】西藏青稞根际细菌多样性丰富，5市间存在显著差异，且不同生长区青稞根际具有特有的生物标志物，为进一步研究特有根际细菌在青稞生长和环境适应中的作用，发掘优异根际促生菌提供参考。     

低温处理对异育银鲫腹部脂肪组织能量代谢相关基因表达的影响

本文以异育银鲫为研究对象,将其在4 ℃水温条件下暂养12 h,研究其脂肪组织在低温环境下的基因表达变化。HE染色切片和透射电镜拍照结果显示,并未观察到由低温处理导致的组织学显著变化,如明显的线粒体结构增多现象。利用Western blot分析手段,检测了常温和低温处理异育银鲫腹部脂肪组织中的线粒体蛋白分子COX IV的表达水平,发现经过低温处理,异育银鲫脂肪组织中的线粒体蛋白COXIV略有增加。荧光定量PCR的结果显示,在低温环境下,异育银鲫腹部脂肪组织中的Cell Death Inducing DFFA Like Effector A（cidea）, Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator-1 alpha（pgc1）, Peroxisome Proliferator Activated Receptor Gamma（pparg）, Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator 1-beta（ppargca1）, uncoupling protein 1（ucp1）, uncoupling protein 2（ucp2）和uncoupling protein 3（ucp3）等基因的转录表达均出现了显著上调。这是首次证实鱼类腹部脂肪组织中的UCP分子均可以被低温诱导上调表达。     

Comparison of Sewage and Animal Fecal Microbiomes by Using Oligotyping Reveals Potential Human Fecal Indicators in Multiple Taxonomic Groups

Most DNA-based microbial source tracking (MST) approaches target host-associated organisms within the order Bacteroidales, but the gut microbiota of humans and other animals contain organisms from an array of other taxonomic groups that might provide indicators of fecal pollution sources. To discern between human and nonhuman fecal sources, we compared the V6 regions of the 16S rRNA genes detected in fecal samples from six animal hosts to those found in sewage (as a proxy for humans). We focused on 10 abundant genera and used oligotyping, which can detect subtle differences between rRNA gene sequences from ecologically distinct organisms. Our analysis showed clear patterns of differential oligotype distributions between sewage and animal samples. Over 100 oligotypes of human origin occurred preferentially in sewage samples, and 99 human oligotypes were sewage specific. Sequences represented by the sewage-specific oligotypes can be used individually for development of PCR-based assays or together with the oligotypes preferentially associated with sewage to implement a signature-based approach. Analysis of sewage from Spain and Brazil showed that the sewage-specific oligotypes identified in U.S. sewage have the potential to be used as global alternative indicators of human fecal pollution. Environmental samples with evidence of prior human fecal contamination had consistent ratios of sewage signature oligotypes that corresponded to the trends observed for sewage. Our methodology represents a promising approach to identifying new bacterial taxa for MST applications and further highlights the potential of the family Lachnospiraceae to provide human-specific markers. In addition to source tracking applications, the patterns of the fine-scale population structure within fecal taxa suggest a fundamental relationship between bacteria and their hosts.     

Quantitative identification of fecal water pollution sources by TaqMan real-time PCR assays using Bacteroidales 16S rRNA genetic markers

PCR-based analysis of Bacteroidales 16S rRNA genes has emerged as a promising tool to identify sources of fecal water pollution. In this study, three TaqMan real-time PCR assays (BacGeneral, BacHuman, and BacBovine) were developed and evaluated for their ability to quantitatively detect general (total), human-specific, and bovine-specific Bacteroidales 16S rRNA genetic markers. The detection sensitivity was determined to be 6.5 copies of 16S rRNA gene for the BacGeneral and BacHuman assays and 10 copies for the BacBovine assay. The assays were capable of detecting approximately one to two cells per PCR. When tested with 70 fecal samples from various sources (human, cattle, pig, deer, dog, cat, goose, gull, horse, and raccoon), the three assays positively identified the target markers in all samples without any false-negative results. The BacHuman and BacBovine assays exhibited false-positive reactions with non-target samples in a few cases. However, the level of the false-positive reactions was about 50 times smaller than that of the true-positive ones, and therefore, these cross-reactions were unlikely to cause misidentifications of the fecal pollution sources. Microbial source-tracking capability was tested at two freshwater streams of which water quality was influenced by human and cattle feces, respectively. The assays accurately detected the presence of the corresponding host-specific markers upon fecal pollution and the persistence of the markers in downstream areas. The assays are expected to reliably determine human and bovine fecal pollution sources in environmental water samples.     

Ultrafiltration and Microarray for Detection of Microbial Source Tracking Marker and Pathogen Genes in Riverine and Marine Systems

Pathogen identification and microbial source tracking (MST) to identify sources of fecal pollution improve evaluation of water quality. They contribute to improved assessment of human health risks and remediation of pollution sources. An MST microarray was used to simultaneously detect genes for multiple pathogens and indicators of fecal pollution in freshwater, marine water, sewage-contaminated freshwater and marine water, and treated wastewater. Dead-end ultrafiltration (DEUF) was used to concentrate organisms from water samples, yielding a recovery efficiency of >95% for Escherichia coli and human polyomavirus. Whole-genome amplification (WGA) increased gene copies from ultrafiltered samples and increased the sensitivity of the microarray. Viruses (adenovirus, bocavirus, hepatitis A virus, and human polyomaviruses) were detected in sewage-contaminated samples. Pathogens such as Legionella pneumophila, Shigella flexneri, and Campylobacter fetus were detected along with genes conferring resistance to aminoglycosides, beta-lactams, and tetracycline. Nonmetric dimensional analysis of MST marker genes grouped sewage-spiked freshwater and marine samples with sewage and apart from other fecal sources. The sensitivity (percent true positives) of the microarray probes for gene targets anticipated in sewage was 51 to 57% and was lower than the specificity (percent true negatives; 79 to 81%). A linear relationship between gene copies determined by quantitative PCR and microarray fluorescence was found, indicating the semiquantitative nature of the MST microarray. These results indicate that ultrafiltration coupled with WGA provides sufficient nucleic acids for detection of viruses, bacteria, protozoa, and antibiotic resistance genes by the microarray in applications ranging from beach monitoring to risk assessment.     

Quantification of host-specific <Emphasis Type="Italic">Bacteroides–Prevotella</Emphasis> 16S rRNA genetic markers for assessment of fecal pollution in freshwater

Based on the comparative 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis of fecal DNAs, we identified one human-, three cow-, and two pig-specific Bacteroides–Prevotella 16S rRNA genetic markers, designed host-specific real-time polymerase chain reaction (real-time PCR) primer sets, and successfully developed real-time PCR assay to quantify the fecal contamination derived from human, cow, and pig in natural river samples. The specificity of each newly designed host-specific primer pair was evaluated on fecal DNAs extracted from these host feces. All three cow-specific and two pig-specific primer sets amplified only target fecal DNAs (in the orders of 9–11 log₁₀ copies per gram of wet feces), showing high host specificity. This real-time PCR assay was then applied to the river water samples with different fecal contamination sources and levels. It was confirmed that this assay could sufficiently discriminate and quantify human, cow, and pig fecal contamination. There was a moderate level of correlation between the Bacteroides–Prevotella group-specific 16S rRNA gene markers with fecal coliforms (r ² = 0.49), whereas no significant correlation was found between the human-specific Bacteroides 16S rRNA gene with total and fecal coliforms. Using a simple filtration method, the minimum detection limits of this assay were in the range of 50–800 copies/100 ml. With a combined sample processing and analysis time of less than 8 h, this real-time PCR assay is useful for monitoring or identifying spatial and temporal distributions of host-specific fecal contaminations in natural water environments.     

Turkey fecal microbial community structure and functional gene diversity revealed by 16S rRNA gene and metagenomic sequences

The primary goal of this study was to better understand the microbial composition and functional genetic diversity associated with turkey fecal communities. To achieve this, 16S rRNA gene and metagenomic clone libraries were sequenced from turkey fecal samples. The analysis of 382 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that the most abundant bacteria were closely related to Lactobacillales (47%), Bacillales (31%), and Clostridiales (11%). Actinomycetales, Enterobacteriales, and Bacteroidales sequences were also identified, but represented a smaller part of the community. The analysis of 379 metagenomic sequences showed that most clones were similar to bacterial protein sequences (58%). Bacteriophage (10%) and avian viruses (3%) sequences were also represented. Of all metagenomic clones potentially encoding for bacterial proteins, most were similar to low G+C Gram-positive bacterial proteins, particularly from Lactobacillales (50%), Bacillales (11%), and Clostridiales (8%). Bioinformatic analyses suggested the presence of genes encoding for membrane proteins, lipoproteins, hydrolases, and functional genes associated with the metabolism of nitrogen and sulfur containing compounds. The results from this study further confirmed the predominance of Firmicutes in the avian gut and highlight the value of coupling 16S rRNA gene and metagenomic sequencing data analysis to study the microbial composition of avian fecal microbial communities.     

Investigation of human sewage pollution and pathogen analysis at Florida Gulf coast beaches

Aims: Water quality at two Florida beaches was compared using faecal indicator bacteria measurements, microbial source tracking (MST) methods for detecting human source pollution and the assessment of pathogen presence. These values were also compared before and after remediation of wastewater infrastructure at one beach. Methods and Results: Faecal coliforms, Escherichia coli and enterococci were enumerated in estuarine water and sediment samples. PCR assays for the human‐associated esp gene of Enterococcus faecium and human polyomaviruses (HPyVs) were used to detect human sewage. Culturable Salmonella and enteric viruses were also analysed. MST identified human sewage contamination at one beach, leading to repair of a sewer main and relocation of portable restrooms. Exceedances of Florida recreational water regulatory standards were significantly reduced after remediation (by 52% for faecal coliforms and 39% for enterococci), and the frequency of detection of MST markers decreased. Coxsackie virus B4 and HPyVs were codetected following a major sewage spill, but Salmonella was not detected during the study. Conclusions: These data indicate that infrastructure remediation significantly reduced pollution from human sewage at the impacted beach. Significance and Impact of the Study: A comprehensive microbial water quality study that can identify contamination sources through the use of MST markers and close collaboration with local/and state agencies can result in tangible actions to improve recreational water quality and safety.     

Potential Human Pathogenic Bacteria in a Mixed Urban Watershed as Revealed by Pyrosequencing

Current microbial source tracking (MST) methods for water depend on testing for fecal indicator bacterial counts or specific marker gene sequences to identify fecal contamination where potential human pathogenic bacteria could be present. In this study, we applied 454 high-throughput pyrosequencing to identify bacterial pathogen DNA sequences, including those not traditionally monitored by MST and correlated their abundances to specific sources of contamination such as urban runoff and agricultural runoff from concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), recreation park area, waste-water treatment plants, and natural sites with little or no human activities. Samples for pyrosequencing were surface water, and sediment collected from 19 sites. A total of 12,959 16S rRNA gene sequences with average length of ≤400 bp were obtained, and were assigned to corresponding taxonomic ranks using ribosomal database project (RDP), Classifier and Greengenes databases. The percent of total potential pathogens were highest in urban runoff water (7.94%), agricultural runoff sediment (6.52%), and Prado Park sediment (6.00%), respectively. Although the numbers of DNA sequence tags from pyrosequencing were very high for the natural site, corresponding percent potential pathogens were very low (3.78–4.08%). Most of the potential pathogenic bacterial sequences identified were from three major phyla, namely, Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Firmicutes. The use of deep sequencing may provide improved and faster methods for the identification of pathogen sources in most watersheds so that better risk assessment methods may be developed to enhance public health.     

A Microbial Signature Approach to Identify Fecal Pollution in the Waters Off an Urbanized Coast of Lake Michigan

Urban coasts receive watershed drainage from ecosystems that include highly developed lands with sewer and stormwater infrastructure. In these complex ecosystems, coastal waters are often contaminated with fecal pollution, where multiple delivery mechanisms that often contain multiple fecal sources make it difficult to mitigate the pollution. Here, we exploit bacterial community sequencing of the V6 and V6V4 hypervariable regions of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene to identify bacterial distributions that signal the presence of sewer, fecal, and human fecal pollution. The sequences classified to three sewer infrastructure-associated bacterial genera, Acinetobacter, Arcobacter, and Trichococcus, and five fecal-associated bacterial families, Bacteroidaceae, Porphyromonadaceae, Clostridiaceae, Lachnospiraceae, and Ruminococcaceae, served as signatures of sewer and fecal contamination, respectively. The human fecal signature was determined with the Bayesian source estimation program SourceTracker, which we applied to a set of 40 sewage influent samples collected in Milwaukee, WI, USA to identify operational taxonomic units (≥97 % identity) that were most likely of human fecal origin. During periods of dry weather, the magnitudes of all three signatures were relatively low in Milwaukee’s urban rivers and harbor and nearly zero in Lake Michigan. However, the relative contribution of the sewer and fecal signature frequently increased to >2 % of the measured surface water communities following sewer overflows. Also during combined sewer overflows, the ratio of the human fecal pollution signature to the fecal pollution signature in surface waters was generally close to that of sewage, but this ratio decreased dramatically during dry weather and rain events, suggesting that nonhuman fecal pollution was the dominant source during these weather-driven scenarios. The qPCR detection of two human fecal indicators, human Bacteroides and Lachno2, confirmed the urban fecal footprint in this ecosystem extends to at least 8 km offshore.     

Estimation of Pig Fecal Contamination in a River Catchment by Real-Time PCR Using Two Pig-Specific Bacteroidales 16S rRNA Genetic Markers

The microbiological quality of coastal or river water can be affected by fecal contamination from human or animal sources. To discriminate pig fecal pollution from other pollution, a library-independent microbial source tracking method targeting Bacteroidales host-specific 16S rRNA gene markers by real-time PCR was designed. Two pig-specific Bacteroidales markers (Pig-1-Bac and Pig-2-Bac) were designed using 16S rRNA gene Bacteroidales clone libraries from pig feces and slurry. For these two pig markers, 98 to 100% sensitivity and 100% specificity were obtained when tested by TaqMan real-time PCR. A decrease in the concentrations of Pig-1-Bac and Pig-2-Bac markers was observed throughout the slurry treatment chain. The two newly designed pig-specific Bacteroidales markers, plus the human-specific (HF183) and ruminant-specific (BacR) Bacteroidales markers, were then applied to river water samples (n = 24) representing 14 different sites from the French Daoulas River catchment (Brittany, France). Pig-1-Bac and Pig-2-Bac were quantified in 25% and 62.5%, respectively, of samples collected around pig farms, with concentrations ranging from 3.6 to 4.1 log₁₀ copies per 100 ml of water. They were detected in water samples collected downstream from pig farms but never detected near cattle farms. HF183 was quantified in 90% of water samples collected downstream near Daoulas town, with concentrations ranging between 3.6 and 4.4 log₁₀ copies per 100 ml of water, and BacR in all water samples collected around cattle farms, with concentrations ranging between 4.6 and 6.0 log₁₀ copies per 100 ml of water. The results of this study highlight that pig fecal contamination was not as frequent as human or bovine fecal contamination and that fecal pollution generally came from multiple origins. The two pig-specific Bacteroidales markers can be applied to environmental water samples to detect pig fecal pollution.Human and animal fecal pollution of coastal environments affects shellfish and recreational water quality and safety, in addition to causing economic losses from the closure of shellfish harvesting areas and from bathing restrictions (13, 19, 33). Human feces are known to contain human-specific enteric pathogens (3, 18, 28), but animals can also be reservoirs for numerous enteric human pathogens, such as Escherichia coli O157:H17, Salmonella spp., Mycobacterium spp., or Listeria spp., that may persist in the soil or surface waters (6, 8, 22, 24). Among animals, pigs are known to carry human pathogens that are excreted with fecal wastes. There are approximately 125 million pigs in the European Union (EU) and 114 million in North America (12, 36, 48), generating an estimated 100 and 91 million tons of pig slurry per year, respectively (4). France, the third largest pig producer in the EU, with about 23,000 farms, generates 8 to 10 million tons of pig slurry per year. Brittany accounts for 56.1% of the total national pig production on only 6% (27,200 km²) of the French territory, though it has 40% (2,700 km) of the coastline. This production could contaminate the environment when tanks on farms overflow, when slurry or compost is spread onto soils, or to a lesser extent, when lagoon surface waters are used for irrigation (38, 47, 52).Fecal contamination in shellfish harvesting and bathing areas is currently evaluated by the detection and enumeration of culturable facultative-anaerobic bacteria, such as E. coli, enterococci, or fecal coliforms (11), in shellfish and bathing waters (European Directives 2006/113/CE and 2006/7/CE). Pigs are among the potential sources of E. coli inputs to the environment; a pig produces approximately 1 × 10⁷ E. coli bacteria per gram of feces, which corresponds to an E. coli flow rate per day that is 28 times higher than that for one human (16, 34, 55).E. coli is not a good indicator of fecal sources of pollution in water because of its presence in both human and animal feces; therefore, alternative fecal indicators must be used. Microbial source tracking methods (44) are being developed to discriminate between human and nonhuman sources of fecal contamination and to distinguish contamination from different animal species (17, 46, 54). Many of these methods are library dependent, requiring a large number of isolates to be cultured and tested, which is time consuming and labor intensive. For these reasons, library-independent methods are preferred for the detection of host-specific markers.The detection of host-specific Bacteroidales markers is a promising library-independent method and has been used for identifying contamination from human and bovine origins (25, 29, 39, 40, 45). In this study, we selected Bacteroidales 16S rRNA gene markers and real-time PCR to focus on fecal contamination from pigs. To date, only one pig-specific Bacteroidales 16S rRNA gene marker has been developed and used on water samples for the identification of pig fecal contamination by real-time PCR assay (SYBR green) (37). When this pig-specific Bacteroidales marker was tested on a small number of fecal samples (n = 16), it showed some cross-reaction with human and cow feces.The present study investigated pig fecal contamination in a French catchment, the Daoulas estuary (Brittany), which has commercial and recreational shellfish harvesting areas and which is potentially subject to fecal contamination. The aims of the present study were (i) to design new primers for the detection and quantification of pig-specific Bacteroidales 16S rRNA genes by TaqMan analysis; (ii) to validate the sensitivity and specificity of the new primers and TaqMan assay using target (feces, slurry, compost, and lagoon water samples) and nontarget (human and other animal sources) DNA, respectively; and (iii) to evaluate the TaqMan assay for proper detection and quantitative estimation of pig-associated fecal pollution. The study represents the first application of pig-specific Bacteroidales markers using a TaqMan assay in Europe and included a monitoring study of marker levels throughout the various stages of slurry treatment.     

Assessment of fecal pollution sources in a small northern-plains watershed using PCR and phylogenetic analyses of Bacteroidetes 16S rRNA gene

We evaluated the efficacy, sensitivity, host-specificity, and spatial/temporal dynamics of human- and ruminant-specific 16S rRNA gene Bacteroidetes markers used to assess the sources of fecal pollution in a fecally impacted watershed. Phylogenetic analyses of 1271 fecal and environmental 16S rRNA gene clones were also performed to study the diversity of Bacteroidetes in this watershed. The host-specific assays indicated that ruminant feces were present in 28-54% of the water samples and in all sampling seasons, with increasing frequency in downstream sites. The human-targeted assays indicated that only 3-5% of the water samples were positive for human fecal signals, although a higher percentage of human-associated signals (19-24%) were detected in sediment samples. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that 57% of all water clones clustered with yet-to-be-cultured Bacteroidetes species associated with sequences obtained from ruminant feces, further supporting the prevalence of ruminant contamination in this watershed. However, since several clusters contained sequences from multiple sources, future studies need to consider the potential cosmopolitan nature of these bacterial populations when assessing fecal pollution sources using Bacteroidetes markers. Moreover, additional data is needed in order to understand the distribution of Bacteroidetes host-specific markers and their relationship to water quality regulatory standards.