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THE FUTURE OF MICROBIAL SOURCE TRACKING STUDIES
Citation:
SADOWSKY, M., D. R. CALL, AND J. W. SANTO-DOMINGO. THE FUTURE OF MICROBIAL SOURCE TRACKING STUDIES. Chapter 8, J. W. Santo-Domingo and M. J. Sadowsky (ed.), Microbial Source Tracking. American Society for Microbiology, Washington, DC, , 235-277, (2007).
Impact/Purpose:
to publish information
Description:
Microbial source tracking (MST) is differentiated from traditional microbial water quality efforts by the need to identify the host species from which the bacteria originate, rather than necessarily identifying an individual point source. Despite recent advances in the development and application of phenotypic- and genotypic-based microbial source tracking methodologies, new technologies and approaches clearly need to be investigated and employed to satisfy the demand for rapid and accurate detection and identification systems. Given limitations imparted by plasticity and diversity issues, future MST technologies will most likely need to be both non-library based and have sufficient throughput to examine a large number of samples in order to overcome demands for speed, accuracy, and cost effectiveness. In this chapter, we will summarize some of the challenges people interested in source identification are currently facing, provide information on the microbial ecology of the gut and potential source identifying microrganisms, discuss research tools that will likely improve marker discovery, and offer some suggestions on the future needs in source tracking.
