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DETECTION OF BIFIDOBACTERIA IN DIFFERENT ANIMAL FECES USING SPECIES-SPECIFIC 165 RDNA ASSAYS
Citation:
LAMENDELLA, R., J. SANTO-DOMINGO, AND C. A. KELTY. DETECTION OF BIFIDOBACTERIA IN DIFFERENT ANIMAL FECES USING SPECIES-SPECIFIC 165 RDNA ASSAYS. Presented at American Society for Microbiology Annual Meeting, Atlanta, GA, June 04 - 09, 2005.
Impact/Purpose:
To inform the public
Description:
The use of bifidobacteria in microbial water quality studies has been sporadic, in part due to the limitations associated with conventional approaches used to isolate and enumerate these bacteria. Recently, a number of culture independent, PCR-based assays have been suggested for the detection of bifidobacteria in environmental waters and to discriminate between different sources of fecal pollution. In this study, we used nine species-specific, 16S rDNA-based PCR methods to detect the following bacterial grops in 42 different fecal samples: Bifidobacterium longum, B. infantis, B. dentium, B. gallicum, B. adolescentis, B. angulatum, B. bifidum, B. breve, and B. Catenulatum. The samples tested included livestock, wildlife, and human feces. Assays specific to Bbifidum, B. breve, B. infantis, and B. gallicum did not detect these species in any of the feces tes5ted. In contrast, PCR products were observed for B. categnulatum, B. dentium, and B. adolescentis specific assays in multiple occasions. Interestingly, the latter two groups have been suggested to be indicators of human fecal contamination. However, our results do not support this hypothesis as the presence of these bifidobacterial groups was detected in livestock and wildlife fecal samples. Overall, our results suggest that currently available sequence databases might underestimate the diversity of bifidobacterial populations associated with the animal gut. Consequently, more comprehensive studies are needed to fully understand the population biology of naturally occurring bifidobacteria.