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Category: Applied and Industrial Microbiology; Environmental Microbiology
Animals and Humans as Sources of Fecal Indicator Bacteria, Page 1 of 2
< Previous page | Next page > /docserver/preview/fulltext/10.1128/9781555816865/9781555816087_Chap04-1.gif /docserver/preview/fulltext/10.1128/9781555816865/9781555816087_Chap04-2.gifAbstract:
This chapter talks about the distribution of the major indicator bacteria, Escherichia coli, Enterococcus spp., and a variety of anaerobes (including Clostridium perfringens, Bifidobacteria spp., and members of the Bacteroidales) in humans, in domesticated animals and birds, and in undomesticated animal hosts. Enterococci are gram-positive bacteria ubiquitously found in the gastrointestinal (GI) tracts of animals, birds, and humans, as well as in soil and water. Enterococci are widely distributed among undomesticated mammals and birds, reptiles, and insects. Culture-independent analyses of total fecal bacterial microflora have been conducted with swine and equine samples using 16S rRNA gene libraries prepared from fecal DNA extracts and universal PCR primers for eubacterial 16S rRNA genes. A study by Fogarty and Voytek confirmed the presence of Bacteroidales in the feces of deer (Cervus sp.) inhabiting Virginia and West Virginia. In this study, feces were collected from 21 individual deer and extracted DNA was amplified with primers capable of amplifying 16S rRNA DNA from members of the Bacteroidales group. Fecal indicator bacteria shed by humans and domestic animals are subject to profound alteration of their abundance and characteristics by anthropogenic effects of antibiotic use and waste treatment.
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Indicator bacteria