Applying Molecular Tools for Microbial Source Tracking in the Duck Creek Watershed

摘要

The Duck Creek Watershed located in Hamilton County in the state of Ohio, is affected by thepresence of high concentrations of fecal organisms in the streams. We seek to identify andquantify potential sources of fecal bacteria, including pathogenic strains of E. coli (O157:H7)from combined sewer overflows (CSO), and watershed runoff. The most commonly used fecalindicators are E. coli and Enterococcus sp.; however, these bacteria can survive and grow inenvironmental reservoirs like benthic sediments and inside algae making them unreliable for thispurpose. Thus the presence of the obligate anaerobe Bacteroides sp. have been used to identifythe origin of fecal contamination in Duck Creek. To accomplish this we have done a detailedgenetic-based forensic analysis with two main thrusts: 1) microbial and host identificationthrough nucleic acid amplification techniques and 2) spatiotemporal localization of source inputsbased on sampling schedule and location.