Stochastic determination of the spatial variation of potentially pathogenic bacteria communities in a large subtropical river

Lei Zhou; Li Liu; Wei-Yuan Chen; Ji-Jia Sun; Shi-Wei Hou; Tian-Xu Kuang; Wen-Xiong Wang; Xian-De Huang

doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2020.114683

Stochastic determination of the spatial variation of potentially pathogenic bacteria communities in a large subtropical river

Environ Pollut. 2020 Sep:264:114683. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2020.114683. Epub 2020 May 3.

Authors

Lei Zhou¹, Li Liu¹, Wei-Yuan Chen¹, Ji-Jia Sun¹, Shi-Wei Hou¹, Tian-Xu Kuang¹, Wen-Xiong Wang², Xian-De Huang³

Affiliations

¹ Joint Laboratory of Guangdong Province and Hong Kong Region on Marine Bioresource Conservation and Exploitation, College of Marine Sciences, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China.
² Joint Laboratory of Guangdong Province and Hong Kong Region on Marine Bioresource Conservation and Exploitation, College of Marine Sciences, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China; School of Energy and Environment, State Key Laboratory of Marine Pollution, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong.
³ Joint Laboratory of Guangdong Province and Hong Kong Region on Marine Bioresource Conservation and Exploitation, College of Marine Sciences, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China. Electronic address: huangxd@scau.edu.cn.

PMID: 32388300
DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2020.114683

Abstract

Understanding the composition and assembly mechanism of waterborne pathogen is essential for preventing the pathogenic infection and protecting the human health. Here, based on 16S rRNA sequencing, we investigated the composition and spatial variation of potentially pathogenic bacteria from different sections of the Pearl River, the most important source of water for human in Southern China. The results showed that the potential pathogen communities consisted of 6 phyla and 64 genera, covering 11 categories of potential pathogens mainly involving animal parasites or symbionts (AniP), human pathogens all (HumPA), and intracellular parasites (IntCelP). Proteobacteria (75.87%) and Chlamydiae (20.56%) were dominant at the phylum level, and Acinetobacter (35.01%) and Roseomonas (8.24%) were dominant at the genus level. Multivariate analysis showed that the potential pathogenic bacterial community was significantly different among the four sections in the Pearl River. Both physicochemical factors (e.g., NO₃-N, and suspended solids) and land use (e.g., urban land and forest) significantly shaped the pathogen community structure. However, spatial effects contributed more to the variation of pathogen community based on variation partitioning and path analysis. Null model based normalized stochasticity ratio analysis further indicated that the stochastic process rather than deterministic process dominated the assembly mechanisms by controlling the spatial patterns of potential pathogens. In conclusion, high-throughput sequencing shows great potential for monitoring the potential pathogens, and provided more comprehensive information on the potentially pathogenic community. Our study highlighted the importance of considering the influences of dispersal-related processes in future risk assessments for the prevention and control of pathogenic bacteria.

Keywords: 16S rRNA sequencing; Pearl river; Potential pathogen community; Spatial variation; Stochastic process.

MeSH terms

Animals
Bacteria / genetics*
China
Humans
Proteobacteria
RNA, Ribosomal, 16S
Rivers*

Substances

RNA, Ribosomal, 16S