New molecular quantitative PCR assay for detection of host-specific Bifidobacteriaceae suitable for microbial source tracking

Appl Environ Microbiol. 2012 Aug;78(16):5788-95. doi: 10.1128/AEM.00895-12. Epub 2012 Jun 8.

Abstract

Bifidobacterium spp. belong to the commensal intestinal microbiota of warm-blooded animals. Some strains of Bifidobacterium show host specificity and have thus been proposed as host-specific targets to determine the origin of fecal pollution. Most strains have been used in microbial-source-tracking (MST) studies based on culture-dependent methods. Although some of these approaches have proved very useful, the low prevalence of culturable Bifidobacterium strains in the environment means that molecular culture-independent procedures could provide practical applications for MST. Reported here is a set of common primers and four Bifidobacterium sp. host-associated (human, cattle, pig, and poultry) probes for quantitative-PCR (qPCR) assessment of fecal source tracking. This set was tested using 25 water samples of diverse origin: urban sewage samples, wastewater from four abattoirs (porcine, bovine, and poultry), and water from a river with a low pollution load. The selected sequences showed a high degree of host specificity. There were no cross-reactions between the qPCR assays specific for each origin and samples from different fecal origins. On the basis of the findings, it was concluded that the host-specific qPCRs are sufficiently robust to be applied in environmental MST studies.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Actinobacteria / classification*
  • Actinobacteria / genetics
  • Actinobacteria / isolation & purification*
  • Animals
  • Cattle
  • DNA Primers / genetics
  • Feces / microbiology
  • Host Specificity
  • Humans
  • Metagenomics / methods*
  • Microbiological Techniques / methods*
  • Poultry
  • Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction / methods*
  • Swine
  • Water Microbiology*

Substances

  • DNA Primers