Global Distribution of Human-associated Fecal Genetic Markers in Reference Samples from Six Continents

Rene E. Mayer; G.H. Reischer; Simone K. Ixenmaier; Julia Derx; Alfred Paul Blaschke; James Ebdon; Rita Linke; Lucas Egle; W. Ahmed; A.R. Blanch; Denis  Byamukama; Marion  Savill; Douglas  Mushi; Héctor A.  Cristóbal; Thomas A.  Edge; Margit A.  Schade; Asli  Aslan; Yolanda M.  Brooks; Regina  Sommer; Yoshifumi  Masago; Maria I.  Sato; Huw Taylor; Joan B.  Rose; Stefan  Wuertz; Orin C.  Shanks; Harald  Piringer; Robert L.  Mach; Domenico  Savio; Matthias  Zessner; Andreas H.  Farnleitner

doi:10.1021/acs.est.7b04438

Global Distribution of Human-associated Fecal Genetic Markers in Reference Samples from Six Continents

Rene E. Mayer, G.H. Reischer, Simone K. Ixenmaier, Julia Derx, Alfred Paul Blaschke, James Ebdon, Rita Linke, Lucas Egle, W. Ahmed, A.R. Blanch, Denis Byamukama, Marion Savill, Douglas Mushi, Héctor A. Cristóbal, Thomas A. Edge, Margit A. Schade, Asli Aslan, Yolanda M. Brooks, Regina Sommer, Yoshifumi MasagoMaria I. Sato, Huw Taylor, Joan B. Rose, Stefan Wuertz, Orin C. Shanks, Harald Piringer, Robert L. Mach, Domenico Savio, Matthias Zessner, Andreas H. Farnleitner

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Abstract

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).

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	5076–5084
Journal	Environmental Science and Technology
Volume	52
Issue number	9
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.7b04438
Publication status	Published - 23 Mar 2018

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James Ebdon
- je3brighton.acuk
- School of Applied Sciences - Professor of Environmental Microbiology
- Centre for Earth Observation Science
- Environment and Public Health Research Excellence Group
Person: Academic

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Mayer, R. E., Reischer, G. H., Ixenmaier, S. K., Derx, J., Blaschke, A. P., Ebdon, J., Linke, R., Egle, L., Ahmed, W., Blanch, A. R., Byamukama, D., Savill, M., Mushi, D., Cristóbal, H. A., Edge, T. A., Schade, M. A., Aslan, A., Brooks, Y. M., Sommer, R., ... Farnleitner, A. H. (2018). Global Distribution of Human-associated Fecal Genetic Markers in Reference Samples from Six Continents. Environmental Science and Technology, 52(9), 5076–5084. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.7b04438

@article{65d7e4ee00d545ef9004df9d526549ae,

title = "Global Distribution of Human-associated Fecal Genetic Markers in Reference Samples from Six Continents",

abstract = "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).",

author = "Mayer, {Rene E.} and G.H. Reischer and Ixenmaier, {Simone K.} and Julia Derx and Blaschke, {Alfred Paul} and James Ebdon and Rita Linke and Lucas Egle and W. Ahmed and A.R. Blanch and Denis Byamukama and Marion Savill and Douglas Mushi and Crist{\'o}bal, {H{\'e}ctor A.} and Edge, {Thomas A.} and Schade, {Margit A.} and Asli Aslan and Brooks, {Yolanda M.} and Regina Sommer and Yoshifumi Masago and Sato, {Maria I.} and Huw Taylor and Rose, {Joan B.} and Stefan Wuertz and Shanks, {Orin C.} and Harald Piringer and Mach, {Robert L.} and Domenico Savio and Matthias Zessner and Farnleitner, {Andreas H.}",

year = "2018",

month = mar,

day = "23",

doi = "10.1021/acs.est.7b04438",

language = "English",

volume = "52",

pages = "5076–5084",

journal = "Environmental Science and Technology",

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Mayer, RE, Reischer, GH, Ixenmaier, SK, Derx, J, Blaschke, AP, Ebdon, J, Linke, R, Egle, L, Ahmed, W, Blanch, AR, Byamukama, D, Savill, M, Mushi, D, Cristóbal, HA, Edge, TA, Schade, MA, Aslan, A, Brooks, YM, Sommer, R, Masago, Y, Sato, MI, Taylor, H, Rose, JB, Wuertz, S, Shanks, OC, Piringer, H, Mach, RL, Savio, D, Zessner, M & Farnleitner, AH 2018, 'Global Distribution of Human-associated Fecal Genetic Markers in Reference Samples from Six Continents', Environmental Science and Technology, vol. 52, no. 9, pp. 5076–5084. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.7b04438

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

SN - 0013-936X

VL - 52

SP - 5076

EP - 5084

JO - Environmental Science and Technology

JF - Environmental Science and Technology

IS - 9

ER -

Global Distribution of Human-associated Fecal Genetic Markers in Reference Samples from Six Continents

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