title: Integrated Multivariate Analysis with Nondetects for the Development of Human Sewage Source-Tracking Tools Using Bacteriophages of Enterococcus faecalis.
abstract: We developed sewage-specific microbial source tracking (MST) tools using enterococci bacteriophages and evaluated their performance with univariate and multivariate analyses involving data below detection limits. Newly isolated Enterococci faecalis bacterial strains AIM06 (DSM100702) and SR14 (DSM100701) demonstrated 100% specificity and 90% sensitivity to human sewage without detecting 68 animal manure pooled samples of cats, chickens, cows, dogs, ducks, pigs, and pigeons. AIM06 and SR14 bacteriophages were present in human sewage at 2-4 orders of magnitude. A principal component analysis confirmed the importance of both phages as main water quality parameters. The phages presented only in the polluted water, as classified by a cluster analysis, and at median concentrations of 1.71 × 102and 4.27 × 102PFU/100 mL, respectively, higher than nonhost specific RYC2056 phages and sewage-specific KS148 phages (p < 0.05). Interestingly, AIM06 and SR14 phages exhibited significant correlations with each other and with total coliforms, E. coli, enterococci, and biochemical oxygen demand (Kendall's tau = 0.348 to 0.605, p < 0.05), a result supporting their roles as water quality indicators. This research demonstrates the multiregional applicability of enterococci hosts in MST application and highlights the significance of multivariate analysis with nondetects in evaluating the performance of new MST host strains.
authors.affiliation: Chulabhorn Graduate Institute , Bangkok, Thailand 10210.
authors.forename: Bencharong
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wangkahad
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology and Center for Emerging Bacterial Infections, Faculty of Science, Mahidol University , Bangkok, Thailand 10400.|Laboratory of Biotechnology, Chulabhorn Research Institute , Bangkok, Thailand 10210.|Center of Excellence on Environmental Health and Toxicology, CHE, Ministry of Education , Phitsanulok 10400, Thailand.
authors.forename: Skorn
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mongkolsuk
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Biotechnology, Chulabhorn Research Institute , Bangkok, Thailand 10210.|Center of Excellence on Environmental Health and Toxicology, CHE, Ministry of Education , Phitsanulok 10400, Thailand.
authors.forename: Kwanrawee
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-7273-4060
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sirikanchana
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001435:Bacteriophages; D002415:Cats; D002417:Cattle; D002645:Chickens; D004285:Dogs; D013293:Enterococcus faecalis; D004926:Escherichia coli; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D012722:Sewage / Q000382:microbiology*; D013552:Swine; D014871:Water Microbiology
chemical_list: D012722:Sewage