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Analysis of 16S Sediment Microbial Communities from a Southern California Wastewater-Treatment Discharge Field
Citation:
Friedman, S., K. Houghton, J. James, AND F. Genthner. Analysis of 16S Sediment Microbial Communities from a Southern California Wastewater-Treatment Discharge Field. American Society for Microbiology General Meeting, New Orleans, LA, May 30 - June 02, 2015.
Impact/Purpose:
Conference presentation to disseminate research findings regarding microbial community composition in contaminated and non-contaminated sediments
Description:
Treated sewage effluent from several large wastewater treatment plants in the Los Angeles metropolitan area is discharged into the Pacific Ocean through a network of outfalls located between 5 and 7 miles offshore. To support development of new indicators of wastewater effects on the marine benthos based on microbial community structure, this study analyzed 16S PCR amplicons of DNA extracted from sediments collected at 4 stations along a gradient of wastewater exposure. Metadata to support analysis of the 16S sequences was provided by analysis of sediment samples. Analyses included polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), sediment nitrogen and phosphorus, and several chlorinated hydrocarbons (DDT, PCB and Aroclor). Analysis of the benthic biotic community provided an index of biotic condition. The microbial community was determined by Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) of the 16S rRNA gene using the Ion Torrent platform. DNA sequences were processed using MOTHUR and resulting taxonomic abundances were analyzed using Primer-E v.6. One of the 4 stations clustered alone when evaluated by metadata chemistry. However, microbial community composition was not correlated with chemical metadata. BEST analysis identified the environmental variables that were most correlated with microbial community structure were Benthic Index score, percent inorganic carbon and percent total solids.