Journal
LETTERS IN APPLIED MICROBIOLOGY
Volume 72, Issue 2, Pages 167-177Publisher
OXFORD UNIV PRESS
DOI: 10.1111/lam.13405
Keywords
faecal indicator bacteria; Golden Horn (Turkey); human‐ associated MST marker (BT‐ α ); microbial source tracking; quantitative polymerase chain reaction
Categories
Funding
- Istanbul University, Scientific Research Projects Unit [11659]
Ask authors/readers for more resources
The study compared different bacterial indicators in the urban estuary of Istanbul and found that enterococci concentrations can be monitored using real-time polymerase chain reaction methods. The BT-alpha marker was positively correlated with enterococci, and rainfall had a high correlation with water quality indicators.
One of the main impacts of urban sprawl in rapidly growing countries has been contamination of coastal environments by waterborne pathogens, posing a critical risk to ecosystem and human health. Microbial source tracking (MST) has been a robust tool to identify the origin of these pathogens globally. This study compared the occurrence of a human-associated Bacteroides marker (BT-alpha) with faecal indicator bacteria (FIB) in an urban estuary (Golden Horn, Istanbul, Turkey). Faecal coliform (culture method), enterococci (both culture and qPCR method) concentrations and physicochemical variables were compared with the BT-alpha concentrations in monthly collected samples for a year (n = 108). Enterococci concentrations detected by culture and qPCR were positively correlated (r = 0 center dot 86, P < 0 center dot 01) suggesting that qPCR can be an alternative method for monitoring. BT-alpha marker was positive for 30% of the samples and positively correlated with enterococci (r = 0 center dot 61 and r = 0 center dot 64 for culture and qPCR methods respectively, P < 0 center dot 01). Rainfall had a moderate positive correlation with all faecal/MST indicators suggesting combined sewer overflows also severely impacted estuarine water quality. The high FIB and BT-alpha concentrations at upper estuary suggested that faecal pollution mainly originated from the peri-urban settlements around two creeks entering the estuary.
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