Department of Biology, CESAM, University of Aveiro, Campus Universitário de Santiago, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal.
Department of Biology, CESAM, University of Aveiro, Campus Universitário de Santiago, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal.
Sci Total Environ. 2014 Feb 1;470-471:84-91. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2013.09.075. Epub 2013 Oct 16.
Gulls were reported as sources of fecal pollution in coastal environments and potential vectors of human infections. Microbial source tracking (MST) methods were rarely tested to identify this pollution origin. This study was conducted to ascertain the source of water fecal contamination in the Berlenga Island, Portugal. A total of 169 Escherichia coli isolates from human sewage, 423 isolates from gull feces and 334 water isolates were analyzed by BOX-PCR. An average correct classification of 79.3% was achieved. When an 85% similarity cutoff was applied 24% of water isolates were present in gull feces against 2.7% detected in sewage. Jackknifing resulted in 29.3% of water isolates classified as gull, and 10.8% classified as human. Results indicate that gulls constitute a major source of water contamination in the Berlenga Island. This study validated a methodology to differentiate human and gull fecal pollution sources in a real case of a contaminated beach.
海鸥被报道为沿海环境中粪便污染的来源，也是人类感染的潜在载体。微生物源追踪 (MST) 方法很少被用于确定这种污染的来源。本研究旨在确定葡萄牙 Berlenga 岛水源粪便污染的来源。对 169 株来自人类污水的大肠杆菌分离株、423 株来自海鸥粪便的分离株和 334 株水样分离株进行了 BOX-PCR 分析。平均正确分类率达到了 79.3%。当应用 85%相似度截止值时，24%的水样分离株存在于海鸥粪便中，而在污水中检测到的只有 2.7%。刀切法结果显示，29.3%的水样分离株被归类为海鸥，10.8%被归类为人源。结果表明，海鸥是 Berlenga 岛水源污染的主要来源。本研究验证了一种在受污染海滩的实际案例中区分人类和海鸥粪便污染源的方法。
