Universal microbial indicators provide surveillance of sewage contamination in harbours worldwide

McLellan, S.L.; Chariton, A.; Codello, A.; McClary-Gutierrez, Jill S.; Schussman, Melissa K.; Marzinelli, Ezequiel M.; O’Neil, Judith M.; Schott, Eric J.; Bowen, Jennifer L.

doi:10.1038/s44221-024-00315-5

i

Universal microbial indicators provide surveillance of sewage contamination in harbours worldwide

Supporting Files

2024
By McLellan, S.L. ; Chariton, A. ; Codello, A. ; McClary-Gutierrez, Jill S. ; Schussman, Melissa K. ; Marzinelli, Ezequiel M. ; O’Neil, Judith M. ; Schott, Eric J. ; Bowen, Jennifer L.
Source: Nat Water 2, 1061–1070 (2024).

Details

Journal Title:

Nature Water
Personal Author:

McLellan, S.L. ; Chariton, A. ; Codello, A. ; McClary-Gutierrez, Jill S. ; Schussman, Melissa K. ; Marzinelli, Ezequiel M. ; O’Neil, Judith M. ; Schott, Eric J. ; Bowen, Jennifer L.
NOAA Program & Office:

Sea Grant
Sea Grant Program:

MDU (Maryland Sea Grant)
Description:

Human population pressures and activities pose unprecedented challenges to water resources in urban environments. However, standard methods of assessing microbial water quality have relied on the same cultured organisms for decades. We show that there is a conserved microbial assemblage in untreated sewage that can be exploited to improve global sewage surveillance. Among harbour and coastal water samples from 18 cities across 5 continents (n = 442), nearly half had evidence of sewage contamination using two human faecal bacteria as molecular indicators. In contrast, conventional measures using cultured Escherichia coli or enterococci only exceeded water quality limits in ~18% of samples, with less than half of these demonstrating sewage indicators. Contaminated locations also displayed a signature characteristic of microorganisms mainly derived from sewer infrastructure. Given the human health risk, loss of ecosystem services and economic costs associated with contaminated coastal waters, molecular approaches could provide more reliable information on sewage contamination of urban waterways.
Subjects:
Keywords:
- E. coli
Source:

Nat Water 2, 1061–1070 (2024).
DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1038/s44221-024-00315-5
Format:

PDF
Document Type:

Journal Article
Rights Information:

Accepted Manuscript
Compliance:

Submitted
Download URL:

https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/71687/noaa_71687_DS1.pdf
File Type:

[PDF - 4.02 MB]
Collection(s):

Sea Grant Publications
Main Document Checksum:

urn:sha-512:7dd9f7e6b35286baf6cfec4398751baff3bad060d0e7978049418271a39f07028de8b8c87701f7ee777f1eacd580544e0d9e110feee52fb7f4c2f5507dcbd4cc

Supplemental media

Download pdf

ON THIS PAGE

Details Supporting Files

Found an issue?

Send us an email at:

noaa.repository@noaa.gov

The NOAA IR serves as an archival repository of NOAA-published products including scientific findings, journal articles, guidelines, recommendations, or other information authored or co-authored by NOAA or funded partners. As a repository, the NOAA IR retains documents in their original published format to ensure public access to scientific information.