TY - JOUR
T1 - Global Distribution of Human-associated Fecal Genetic Markers in Reference Samples from Six Continents
AU - Mayer, Rene E.
AU - Reischer, G.H.
AU - Ixenmaier, Simone K.
AU - Derx, Julia
AU - Blaschke, Alfred Paul
AU - Ebdon, James
AU - Linke, Rita
AU - Egle, Lucas
AU - Ahmed, W.
AU - Blanch, A.R.
AU - Byamukama, Denis
AU - Savill, Marion
AU - Mushi, Douglas
AU - Cristóbal, Héctor A.
AU - Edge, Thomas A.
AU - Schade, Margit A.
AU - Aslan, Asli
AU - Brooks, Yolanda M.
AU - Sommer, Regina
AU - Masago, Yoshifumi
AU - Sato, Maria I.
AU - Taylor, Huw
AU - Rose, Joan B.
AU - Wuertz, Stefan
AU - Shanks, Orin C.
AU - Piringer, Harald
AU - Mach, Robert L.
AU - Savio, Domenico
AU - Zessner, Matthias
AU - Farnleitner, Andreas H.
PY - 2018/3/23
Y1 - 2018/3/23
N2 - Numerous bacterial genetic markers are available for the molecular detection of human sources of fecal pollution in environmental waters. However, widespread application is hindered by a lack of knowledge regarding geographical stability, limiting implementation to a small number of well-characterized regions. This study investigates the geographic distribution of five human-associated genetic markers (HF183/BFDrev, HF183/BacR287, BacHum-UCD, BacH, and Lachno2) in municipal wastewaters (raw and treated) from 29 urban and rural wastewater treatment plants (750 – 4,400,000 population equivalents) from 13 countries spanning six continents. In addition, genetic markers were tested against 280 human and non-human fecal samples from domesticated, agricultural and wild animal sources. Findings revealed that all genetic markers are present in consistently high concentrations in raw (median log10 7.2 - 8.0 marker equivalents (ME) 100 ml-1) and biologically treated wastewater samples (median log10 4.6 - 6.0 ME 100 ml-1) regardless of location and population. The false positive rates of the various markers in non-human fecal samples ranged from 5% to 47%. Results suggest that several genetic markers have considerable potential for measuring human-associated contamination in polluted environmental waters. This will be helpful in water quality management and pollution modeling and health risk assessment across the globe (as demonstrated by QMRAcatch).
AB - Numerous bacterial genetic markers are available for the molecular detection of human sources of fecal pollution in environmental waters. However, widespread application is hindered by a lack of knowledge regarding geographical stability, limiting implementation to a small number of well-characterized regions. This study investigates the geographic distribution of five human-associated genetic markers (HF183/BFDrev, HF183/BacR287, BacHum-UCD, BacH, and Lachno2) in municipal wastewaters (raw and treated) from 29 urban and rural wastewater treatment plants (750 – 4,400,000 population equivalents) from 13 countries spanning six continents. In addition, genetic markers were tested against 280 human and non-human fecal samples from domesticated, agricultural and wild animal sources. Findings revealed that all genetic markers are present in consistently high concentrations in raw (median log10 7.2 - 8.0 marker equivalents (ME) 100 ml-1) and biologically treated wastewater samples (median log10 4.6 - 6.0 ME 100 ml-1) regardless of location and population. The false positive rates of the various markers in non-human fecal samples ranged from 5% to 47%. Results suggest that several genetic markers have considerable potential for measuring human-associated contamination in polluted environmental waters. This will be helpful in water quality management and pollution modeling and health risk assessment across the globe (as demonstrated by QMRAcatch).
U2 - 10.1021/acs.est.7b04438
DO - 10.1021/acs.est.7b04438
M3 - Article
VL - 52
SP - 5076
EP - 5084
JO - Environmental Science and Technology
JF - Environmental Science and Technology
SN - 0013-936X
IS - 9
ER -
