title: [Distribution and diversity of Legionella spp. in Lake Taihu in the winter].
abstract: The Legionella spp. are ubiquitous in aquatic environment and could cause certain risks on human health. In order to investigate the distribution and diversity of Legionella spp. in Lake Taihu during winter time, water samples were collected from 32 sites of the whole lake in February 2010. The presence of Legionella spp. was screened by nested-PCR and their phylogenetic diversity was determined by denaturing gradient gel electrophorese (DGGE) and sequencing analysis of excised DGGE bands. The Legionella spp. was detected from 21 out of 32 sites in particle-associated bacterial samples and 11 out of 32 sites in free-living bacterial samples, which accounted for 65.63% and 34.38% of each type of bacteria, respectively. In total, 40 and 36 unique bands were identified among those particle-associated and free-living bacterial DGGE profiles, respectively. Community characteristic indices of different euthrophic areas showed that the diversity of Legionella spp. in mild eutrophic areas was higher than that in the moderate eutrophic areas. In total, thirty-four DGGE bands were excised and sequenced, which could be classified into 12 OTUs by 97% similarity. Among all the sequences, three showed a high similarity with two pathogenic Legionella species Legionella feeleii and Legionella longbeachae. This revealed potential healthy risks to the people lived around the Lake Taihu.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Lake Science and Environment, Nanjing Institute of Geograghy and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China. wangnajijicao@163.com
authors.forename: Na
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Peng
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Xing
authors.forename: Qing-Long
authors.initials: QL
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Duo-Wei
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Yu
mesh_terms: D044822:Biodiversity; D002681:China; D005618:Fresh Water / Q000032:analysis*; D007875:Legionella / Q000145:classification* / Q000254:growth & development / Q000302:isolation & purification; D010802:Phylogeny; D011157:Population Dynamics; D012621:Seasons; D014871:Water Microbiology