Abstract
This study systematically evaluated five microbial and four mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) markers, including sensitivities and specificities under PCR method, and fecal concentrations and decay rates in water under qPCR method. The microbial DNA markers were the three human-associated (BacH, HF183 and B.adolescentis) and two pig-associated (Pig-2-Bac and L.amylovorus), while the mtDNA ones were two human- (H-ND6 and H-ND5) and two pig-associated (P-CytB and P-ND5). All the mtDNA markers showed higher sensitivity (100%) than the microbial ones (84.0–88.8%) except Pig-2-Bac (100%). Specificities of the human mtDNA markers (99.1 and 98.1%) were higher than those of the human-associated microbial ones (57.0–88.8%). But this pattern was not observed in the pig-associated markers where Pig-2-Bac had 100% specificity. The reliability of H-ND6 and H-ND5 was further evidenced to identify locations of the most polluted within the Taihu Lake watershed of China. In general, the microbial DNA markers demonstrated a higher fecal concentration than the mtDNA ones; increasing temperature and sunlight exposure accelerated significantly the decay of all the DNA markers. Results of this study suggest that DNA markers H-ND6, H-ND5, and Pig-2-Bac may be among the best for fecal source tracking in water.
Highlights
HF183 B.adolescentis H-ND6 H-ND5 Pig-2-Bac L.amylovorus P-CytB influenced by animal diets, but environmental microorganisms as gut microbiota would be[5]
All the markers’ sensitivities, specificities, and fecal concentrations were determined using the fecal and water samples collected from the Taihu Lake watershed of China; their decay rates under different environmental conditions were examined in the laboratory and field microcosms; and the human-associated microbial DNA and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) markers were further evaluated in identifying locations of the most polluted along Taige River of the Taihu Lake watershed
The results showed that the concentrations in feces seemed to have a decreasing trend in the order: BacH (10.08 ± 0.82 log[10] copies/g), H-ND6 (9.08 ± 0.58 log[10] copies/g), B.adolescentis (8.97 ± 1.13 log[10] copies/g), HF183 (8.80 ± 1.56 log[10] copies/g), Figure 1
Summary
HF183 B.adolescentis H-ND6 H-ND5 Pig-2-Bac L.amylovorus P-CytB influenced by animal diets, but environmental microorganisms as gut microbiota would be[5]. Most of FST markers were developed in the West, including America and France It remains unknown the application of these markers in water environments of China. The aim of this study was to systematically evaluate five microbial DNA markers (BacH, HF183, B.adolescentis for human and Pig-2-Bac, L.amylovorus for pig) and three mtDNA markers (H-ND5 for human andP-CytoB, P-ND5 for pig) that were selected as the benchmark FST markers from the literature. All the markers’ sensitivities, specificities, and fecal concentrations were determined using the fecal and water samples collected from the Taihu Lake watershed of China; their decay rates under different environmental conditions were examined in the laboratory and field microcosms; and the human-associated microbial DNA and mtDNA markers were further evaluated in identifying locations of the most polluted along Taige River of the Taihu Lake watershed. Knowledge gained from this study was expected to enhance water quality management of the Taihu Lake watershed in particular and FST in general
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