Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
NUS Environmental Research Institute (NERI), Singapore.
Appl Environ Microbiol. 2018 Jul 2;84(14). doi: 10.1128/AEM.00287-18. Print 2018 Jul 15.
This study evaluated the geospatial distribution of fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) (i.e., , spp.) and the alternative fecal indicator pepper mild mottle virus (PMMoV) in tropical freshwater environments under different land use patterns. Results show that the occurrence and concentration of microbial fecal indicators were higher for urban than for parkland-dominated areas, consistent with land use weightage. Significant positive correlations with traditional FIB indicate that PMMoV is a suitable indicator of fecal contamination in tropical catchments waters (0.549 ≤ rho ≤ 0.612; < 0.01). PMMoV exhibited a strong significant correlation with land use weightage (rho = 0.728; < 0.01) compared to traditional FIB (rho = 0.583; < 0.01). In addition, chemical tracers were also added to evaluate the potential relationships with microbial fecal indicators. The relationships between diverse variables (e.g., environmental parameters, land use coverage, and chemical tracers) and the occurrence of FIB and PMMoV were evaluated. By using stepwise multiple linear regression (MLR), the empirical experimental models substantiate the impact of land use patterns and anthropogenic activities on microbial water quality, and the output results of the empirical models may be able to predict the sources and transportation of human fecal pollution or sewage contamination. In addition, the high correlation between PMMoV data obtained from quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) and viral metagenomics data supports the possibility of using viral metagenomics to relatively quantify specific microbial indicators for monitoring microbial water quality (0.588 ≤ rho ≤ 0.879; < 0.05). The results of this study may support the hypothesis of using PMMoV as an alternative indicator of human fecal contamination in tropical surface waters from the perspective of land use patterns. The predictive result of the occurrence of human fecal indicators with high accuracy may reflect the source and transportation of human fecal pollution, which are directly related to the risk to human health, and thereafter, steps can be taken to mitigate these risks.
本研究评估了在不同土地利用模式下热带淡水环境中粪便指示菌（FIB）（即 spp.）和替代粪便指示物胡椒轻斑驳病毒（PMMoV）的地理空间分布。结果表明，与公园为主的地区相比，城市地区的微生物粪便指示物的发生和浓度更高，与土地利用权重一致。与传统 FIB 呈显著正相关表明，PMMoV 是热带集水区水中粪便污染的合适指示物（0.549≤rho≤0.612；<0.01）。与传统 FIB（rho=0.583；<0.01）相比，PMMoV 与土地利用权重之间存在较强的显著相关性（rho=0.728；<0.01）。此外，还添加了化学示踪剂来评估与微生物粪便指示物的潜在关系。评估了不同变量（如环境参数、土地利用覆盖和化学示踪剂）与 FIB 和 PMMoV 发生之间的关系。通过逐步多元线性回归（MLR），经验实验模型证实了土地利用模式和人为活动对微生物水质的影响，经验模型的输出结果可能能够预测人类粪便污染或污水污染的来源和运输。此外，从定量实时 PCR（qPCR）和病毒宏基因组学数据中获得的 PMMoV 数据之间的高度相关性支持使用病毒宏基因组学相对定量特定微生物指标以监测微生物水质的可能性（0.588≤rho≤0.879；<0.05）。本研究的结果可能支持从土地利用模式的角度，使用 PMMoV 作为热带地表水人类粪便污染替代指示物的假设。高准确性预测人类粪便指示物发生的结果可能反映了人类粪便污染的来源和运输，这与人类健康风险直接相关，此后可以采取措施降低这些风险。
