title: Bacterial characterization of Beijing drinking water by flow cytometry and MiSeq sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene.
abstract: Flow cytometry (FCM) and 16S rRNA gene sequencing data are commonly used to monitor and characterize microbial differences in drinking water distribution systems. In this study, to assess microbial differences in drinking water distribution systems, 12 water samples from different sources water (groundwater, GW; surface water, SW) were analyzed by FCM, heterotrophic plate count (HPC), and 16S rRNA gene sequencing. FCM intact cell concentrations varied from 2.2 × 10(3) cells/mL to 1.6 × 10(4) cells/mL in the network. Characteristics of each water sample were also observed by FCM fluorescence fingerprint analysis. 16S rRNA gene sequencing showed that Proteobacteria (76.9-42.3%) or Cyanobacteria (42.0-3.1%) was most abundant among samples. Proteobacteria were abundant in samples containing chlorine, indicating resistance to disinfection. Interestingly, Mycobacterium, Corynebacterium, and Pseudomonas, were detected in drinking water distribution systems. There was no evidence that these microorganisms represented a health concern through water consumption by the general population. However, they provided a health risk for special crowd, such as the elderly or infants, patients with burns and immune-compromised people exposed by drinking. The combined use of FCM to detect total bacteria concentrations and sequencing to determine the relative abundance of pathogenic bacteria resulted in the quantitative evaluation of drinking water distribution systems. Knowledge regarding the concentration of opportunistic pathogenic bacteria will be particularly useful for epidemiological studies.
authors.affiliation: College of Biological Sciences and Technology Beijing Forestry University P. O. Box 162 Beijing 100083 China.
authors.forename: Tingting
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: College of Biological Sciences and Technology Beijing Forestry University P. O. Box 162 Beijing 100083 China.
authors.forename: Weiwen
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Kong
authors.affiliation: College of Biological Sciences and Technology Beijing Forestry University P. O. Box 162 Beijing 100083 China.
authors.forename: Nan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: College of Biological Sciences and Technology Beijing Forestry University P. O. Box 162 Beijing 100083 China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: College of Biological Sciences and Technology Beijing Forestry University P. O. Box 162 Beijing 100083 China.
authors.forename: Jingqi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: College of Biological Sciences and Technology Beijing Forestry University P. O. Box 162 Beijing 100083 China.
authors.forename: Xiaoqing
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: College of Biological Sciences and Technology Beijing Forestry University P. O. Box 162 Beijing 100083 China.
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Jin
keywords: Drinking water quality monitoring; MiSeq sequencing; flow cytometry; fluorescence fingerprints; opportunistic pathogenic bacteria