Analysis of Coral Mucus as an Improved Medium for Detection of Enteric Microbes and for Determining Patterns of Sewage Contamination in Reef Environments
Analysis of Coral Mucus as an Improved Medium for Detection of Enteric Microbes and for Determining Patterns of Sewage Contamination in Reef Environments
复制标题
珊瑚粘液作为检测肠道微生物和确定珊瑚礁环境污水污染模式的改进介质的分析
作者：
E. Lipp;D. Griffin
传统的粪便指示菌在热带海水中通常会高度死亡和稀释，特别是在珊瑚礁等近海地区。此外，这些微生物通常与人类排泄物无关，它们的存在可能并不表明存在健康风险。为了解决佛罗里达群岛珊瑚礁区近海废水污染的问题，我们检测了珊瑚表面是否存在人类特异性肠道病毒。石珊瑚的上覆水柱和表面粘多糖（粘液）层是从美国佛罗里达群岛中部长岛沿近岸到近海横断面的三个监测站采样的。通过直接逆转录聚合酶链式反应 (RT-PCR) 检测样品的标准细菌水质指标（粪便大肠菌群和肠球菌）和人类肠道病毒。近岸站水体和珊瑚中细菌指标浓度最高，并随着离岸距离的增加而降低；近海站未检测到指示菌。虽然在任何水体样本中均未检测到人类肠道病毒，但在每个监测站 50-80% 的珊瑚粘液样本中均检测到了人类肠道病毒。这些数据提供的证据表明，人类污水正在影响佛罗里达群岛中部距海岸约 6.5 公里的珊瑚礁区域，并且珊瑚粘液是捕获与人为污染相关的病毒标记的有效陷阱。
Traditional fecal indicator bacteria are often subject to a high degree of die-off and dilution in tropical marine waters, particularly in offshore areas such as coral reefs. Furthermore, these microbes are often not associated with human waste, and their presence may not be indicative of health risk. To address the offshore extent of wastewater contamination in the Florida Keys reef tract, we assayed coral surfaces for the presence of human-specific enteric viruses. The overlying water column and surface mucopolysaccharide (mucus) layers from scleractinian corals were sampled from three stations along a nearshore-to-offshore transect beginning at Long Key in the middle Florida Keys, USA. Samples were assayed for standard bacterial water quality indicators (fecal coliform bacteria and enterococci) and for human enteroviruses by direct reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The concentration of the bacterial indicators was greatest at the nearshore station in both the water column and corals, and decreased with distance from shore; no indicator bacteria were detected at the offshore station. Whereas human enteroviruses were not detected in any of the water column samples, they were detected in 50–80% of coral mucus samples at each station. These data provide evidence that human sewage is impacting the reef tract up to ~6.5 km from shore in the middle Florida Keys and that coral mucus is an efficient trap for viral markers associated with anthropogenic pollution.