Journal
WATER SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Volume 61, Issue 1, Pages 1-7Publisher
IWA PUBLISHING
DOI: 10.2166/wst.2010.767
Keywords
faecal contamination; mitochondrial DNA; shellfish; TaqMan
Ask authors/readers for more resources
We present a method for the reliable detection and source characterisation of faecal pollution in water and shellfish matrices, utilising real-time PCR analysis of mitochondrial DNA targets. In this study we designed real-time PCR (TaqMan) probes to target human, bovine, ovine and swine mtDNA. PCR amplification using species-specific TaqMan probes on faecal matter and mixed effluent slurries revealed no cross-reactions between species of interest and other vertebrate faecal matter. Performed as a single blind experiment we were able to correctly identify faecal material in 17/20 effluents (85% correct). mtDNA degrades relatively quickly in faecally-spiked water samples (similar to 2 weeks), a similar timeframe of environmental persistence to several bacterial faecal indictors, highlighting its applicability. The procedure described here is specific, rapid (similar to 5 hours) and sensitive. These results confirm the suitability of using species-specific mtDNA as an indicator in source tracking studies in surface waters, shellfish harvesting areas and shellfish matrices.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available