Department of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Toho University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
Department of Respiratory Medicine, Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU), Tokyo, Japan.
Appl Environ Microbiol. 2021 Jan 4;87(2). doi: 10.1128/AEM.02247-20.
Waterborne pathogenic diseases are public health issues, especially for people staying in remote environments, such as Antarctica. After repeated detection of by PCR from the shower room of Syowa Station, the Japanese Antarctic research station, we wanted to understand the occurrence of waterborne pathogens, especially , in the station and their potential sources. In this study, we analyzed water and biofilm samples collected from the water facilities of Syowa Station, as well as water samples from surrounding glacier lakes, by 16S rRNA gene-based amplicon sequencing. For spp., we further attempted to obtain a detailed community structure by using genus-specific primers. The results showed that potentially pathogenic genera were mostly localized in the station, while spp., spp., and spp. were also widely distributed in lakes. Genus-specific analysis of spp. within the lake environments confirmed the presence of diverse amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) that were distinctly different from the ASVs detected in the station. The majority of the ASVs inhabiting Antarctic lake habitats were phylogenetically distinct from known species, whereas the ASVs detected in the human-made station tended to contain ASVs highly similar to well-described mesophilic species with human pathogenicity. These data suggest that unexpected diversity exists in remote Antarctic cold environments and that environmental differences (e.g., temperature) in and around the station affect the community structure. We comprehensively examined the localization of potential waterborne pathogens in the Antarctic human-made and natural aquatic environment with special focus on spp. Some potential pathogenic genera were detected with low relative abundance in the natural environment, but most detections of these genera occurred in the station. Through detailed community analysis of spp., we revealed that a variety of spp. was widely distributed in the Antarctic environment and that they were phylogenetically distinct from the described species. This fact indicates that there are still diverse unknown spp. in Antarctica, and this genus encompasses a greater variety of species in low-temperature environments than is currently known. In contrast, amplicon sequence variants closely related to known spp. with reported pathogenicity were almost solely localized in the station, suggesting that human-made environments alter the community.
水媒病是公共卫生问题，特别是对于生活在偏远环境中的人，如南极洲。在日本南极研究站昭和站的淋浴室中通过 PCR 反复检测到 后，我们希望了解该站水媒病原体的发生情况，特别是 ，及其潜在来源。在这项研究中，我们通过 16S rRNA 基因扩增子测序分析了从昭和站水设施和周围冰川湖采集的水和生物膜样本。对于 spp.，我们进一步尝试使用属特异性引物获得详细的群落结构。结果表明，潜在致病性属主要局限于站内，而 spp.、 spp. 和 spp. 也广泛分布于湖泊中。对湖环境中 spp.的属特异性分析证实了存在多样化的 扩增子序列变体 (ASV)，这些变体与站内检测到的 ASV 明显不同。栖息在南极湖生境中的大多数 ASV 在系统发育上与已知的 物种不同，而在人为的站内检测到的 ASV 则倾向于包含与具有人类致病性的嗜温物种高度相似的 ASV。这些数据表明，在偏远的南极寒冷环境中存在意想不到的 多样性，并且站内和站外的环境差异（例如温度）影响群落结构。我们全面检查了潜在水媒病原体在南极人为和自然水生环境中的定位，特别关注 spp.。在自然环境中，一些潜在的致病性属以低相对丰度被检测到，但这些属的大多数检测都发生在站内。通过对 spp.的详细群落分析，我们揭示了广泛分布于南极环境中的多种 spp.，它们与描述的物种在系统发育上不同。这一事实表明，南极洲仍有多种未知的 spp.，而且这个属在低温环境中包含的物种种类比目前已知的要多。相比之下，与具有报道致病性的已知 spp.密切相关的扩增子序列变体几乎完全局限于站内，表明人为环境改变了 群落。
