Run-off studies demonstrate parallel transport behaviour for a marker of poultry fecal contamination and Staphylococcus aureus.
OBJECTIVE
To determine whether poultry litter marker gene LA35 is correlated with pathogens and fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) in run-off from poultry litter-amended plots.


RESULTS
A rainfall simulator with various vegetative filter strip lengths was employed to evaluate the correlation of a microbial source tracking (MST) marker for poultry feces/litter (the 16S rRNA gene of Brevibacterium sp. LA35 [LA35] measured by quantitative PCR) with pathogens and FIB in run-off. LA35 was correlated with Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Enterococcus spp. and Bacteroidales levels. Salmonella was present at low concentration in litter, but became undetectable by qPCR in run-off. Escherichia coli, LA35 and Staph. aureus exhibited mass-based first flush behaviour in the run-off.


CONCLUSIONS
Correlation of LA35 with FIB and pathogens in run-off from poultry litter-amended fields suggest comparable transport mechanisms and that LA35 is a useful tracer for harmful bacteria in the environment released from poultry litter.


CONCLUSIONS
To protect human health, an effective marker for poultry fecal contamination should exhibit similar fate and transport characteristics compared to pathogens. This study is among the first to demonstrate such a relationship in run-off for a MST marker.
Civil and Environmental Engineering, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, USA.
J
J
Weidhaas
E
E
Garner
T
T
Basden
V J
VJ
Harwood
D000818:Animals; D001419:Bacteria / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D041963:Bacteroidetes / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D001951:Brevibacterium / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D016983:Enterococcus / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D005819:Genetic Markers; D011200:Poultry / Q000382:microbiology*; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D011891:Rain; D012475:Salmonella / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D012988:Soil Microbiology; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D014871:Water Microbiology
D005819:Genetic Markers; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S
Brevibacterium; microbial source tracking; nonpoint source pollution; poultry feces; vegetated filter strips; water quality