Evaluation of the host specificity of Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron alpha-1-6, mannanase gene as a sewage marker.
The specificity of a short fragment functional gene marker (alpha-1-6, mannanase) in Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron was compared with two other Bacteroidales markers used for identifying sewage as the source of pollution in water. A total of 11 different animal species and 230 faecal samples were tested using quantitative polymerase chain reaction. The results showed that the alpha-1-6, mannanase marker had high specificity (0·97). Limited cross-reactivity was found in swine, gull and cat faeces with copy numbers close to detection limit. Positives were detected in all bovine and sheep faeces tested for the Human-Bac1 marker. The human-specific alpha-1-6, mannanase marker showed greater specificity (0·97) than the HF 183 Bacteroides PCR marker (0·71) and the Human-Bac1 (qPCR) marker.


CONCLUSIONS
This is the first study that compares Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron alpha-1-6, mannanase marker with other markers. Our study showed that this marker has strong potential to be used as an indicator for sewage pollution in water.
Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA. aaslan@msu.edu
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D000818:Animals; D001439:Bacteroides / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics*; D002415:Cats; D002417:Cattle; D046091:Charadriiformes; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D006026:Glycoside Hydrolases / Q000235:genetics*; D058507:Host Specificity; D006801:Humans; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D012722:Sewage / Q000382:microbiology*; D012756:Sheep; D013552:Swine; D014876:Water Pollution / Q000032:analysis*
D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; D012722:Sewage; D006026:Glycoside Hydrolases; C020106:endo-1-6-D-mannanase