Citation:

Mayer, R., G. Reischer, S. Ixenmaier, J. Derx, A. Blaschke, J. Ebdon, R. Linke, L. Egle, W. Ahmed, A. Blanch, D. Byamukama, M. Savill, D. Mushi, H. Cristobal, T. Edge, M. Schade, A. Aslan, Y. Brooks, R. Sommer, Y. Masago, M. Sato, H. Taylor, J. Rose, S. Wuertz, O. Shanks, H. Piringer, R. Mach, D. Savio, M. Zessner, AND A. Farnleitner. Global Distribution of Human-Associated Fecal Genetic Markers in Reference Samples from Six Continents. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY. American Chemical Society, Washington, DC, 52(9):5076-5084, (2018). https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.7b04438

Impact/Purpose:

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, BacH, and Lachno2) in municipal wastewaters (untreated and treated) from 29 urban and rural wastewater treatment plants situated across 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 highly concentrated in untreated (median log10 7.2 - 8.0 marker equivalents (ME) 100 ml-1) and secondary treated wastewater samples (median log10 4.6 - 6.0 ME 100 ml-1). Despite the fact that wastewater samples originated from different locations and human populations, genetic marker concentrations were remarkably consistent. However, the source-specificity of the various methods based on non-human fecal samples ranged from 48% to 95%. Despite large variation in source-specificity, results suggest that several genetic markers have considerable potential as tools for measuring human-associated contamination in polluted environmental waters across the globe.

Description:

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, BacH, and Lachno2) in municipal wastewaters (untreated and treated) from 29 urban and rural wastewater treatment plants situated across 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 highly concentrated in untreated (median log10 7.2 - 8.0 marker equivalents (ME) 100 ml-1) and secondary treated wastewater samples (median log10 4.6 - 6.0 ME 100 ml-1). Despite the fact that wastewater samples originated from different locations and human populations, genetic marker concentrations were remarkably consistent. However, the source-specificity of the various methods based on non-human fecal samples ranged from 48% to 95%. Despite large variation in source-specificity, results suggest that several genetic markers have considerable potential as tools for measuring human-associated contamination in polluted environmental waters across the globe.

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