title: Methanobrevibacter ruminantium as an indicator of domesticated-ruminant fecal pollution in surface waters.
abstract: A PCR-based assay (Mrnif) targeting the nifH gene of Methanobrevibacter ruminantium was developed to detect fecal pollution from domesticated ruminants in environmental water samples. The assay produced the expected amplification product only when the reaction mixture contained DNA extracted from M. ruminantium culture, bovine (80%), sheep (100%), and goat (75%) feces, and water samples from a bovine waste lagoon (100%) and a creek contaminated with bovine lagoon waste (100%). The assay appears to be specific and sensitive and can distinguish between domesticated- and nondomesticated-ruminant fecal pollution in environmental samples.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, The University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, Mississippi 39406, USA. jennifer.a.ufnar@vanderbilt.edu
authors.forename: Jennifer A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Ufnar
authors.forename: Shiao Y
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: David F
authors.initials: DF
authors.lastname: Ufnar
authors.forename: R D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Ellender
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000829:Animals, Domestic; D002417:Cattle; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology; D005618:Fresh Water; D041581:Methanobrevibacter / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010088:Oxidoreductases / Q000235:genetics*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012418:Ruminants; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014871:Water Microbiology; D014876:Water Pollution