title: Soil and plant contamination with Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis after exposure to naturally contaminated mouflon feces.
abstract: The aim of this study was to demonstrate the persistence of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP) in soil and colonization of different plant parts after deliberate exposure to mouflon feces naturally contaminated with different amounts of MAP. Samples of aerial parts of plants, their roots, and the soil below the roots were collected after 15 weeks and examined using IS900 real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR) and cultivation. Although the presence of viable MAP cells was not demonstrated, almost all samples were found to be positive using qPCR. MAP IS900 was not only found in the upper green parts, but also in the roots and soil samples (from 1.00 × 10(0) to 6.43 × 10(3)). The level of soil and plant contamination was influenced mainly by moisture, clay content, and the depth from which the samples were collected, rather than by the initial concentration of MAP in the feces at the beginning of the experiment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Food and Feed Safety, Veterinary Research Institute, Hudcova 70, 621 00 Brno, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Radka
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pribylova
authors.forename: Iva
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Slana
authors.forename: Marija
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kaevska
authors.forename: Jiri
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lamka
authors.forename: Vladimir
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Babak
authors.forename: Jiri
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jandak
authors.forename: Ivo
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Pavlik
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology*; D016927:Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D010283:Paratuberculosis / Q000382:microbiology*; D010944:Plants / Q000382:microbiology*; D012757:Sheep Diseases / Q000382:microbiology*; D034561:Sheep, Domestic; D012987:Soil / Q000737:chemistry; D012988:Soil Microbiology
chemical_list: D012987:Soil