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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, September 2009, p. 5919-5926, Vol. 75, No. 18
0099-2240/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.00462-09
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Microbial Diversity and Host-Specific Sequences of Canada Goose Feces{triangledown} ,{dagger}

Jingrang Lu,1 Jorge W. Santo Domingo,1* Stephen Hill,2 and Thomas A. Edge2

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, National Risk Management Research Laboratory, 26 West Martin Luther King Drive, MS-387, Cincinnati, Ohio 45268,1 Water Science & Technology Directorate, National Water Research Institute, Environment Canada, 867 Lakeshore Road, P.O. Box 5050, Burlington, Ontario L7R 4A6, Canada2

Received 24 February 2009/ Accepted 18 July 2009

Methods to assess the impact of goose fecal contamination are needed as the result of the increasing number of Canada geese (Branta canadensis) near North American inland waters. However, there is little information on goose fecal microbial communities, and such data are important for the development of host-specific source-tracking methods. To address this issue, 16S rRNA gene clone libraries for Canada goose fecal samples from Ontario, Canada, and Ohio were analyzed. Analyses of fecal clones from Ontario (447) and Ohio (302) showed that goose fecal communities are dominated by the classes "Clostridia" (represented by 33.7% of clones) and "Bacilli" (38.1% of clones) and the phylum "Bacteroidetes" (10.1% of clones). Sequences not previously found in other avian fecal communities were used to develop host-specific assays. Fecal DNA extracts from sewage plants (10 samples) and different species of birds (11 samples) and mammals (18 samples) were used to test for host specificity. Of all the assays tested, one assay showed specificity for Canada goose fecal DNA. The PCR assay was positive for Canada goose fecal DNA extracts collected from three locations in North America (Ohio, Oregon, and Ontario, Canada). Additionally, of 48 DNA extracts from Lake Ontario waters presumed to be impacted by waterfowl feces, 19 tested positive by the assay, although 10 were positive only after a nested PCR approach was used. Due to the level of host specificity and the presence of signals in environmental waters, the assay is proposed as a part of the toolbox to detect Canada goose contamination in waterfowl-contaminated waters.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, National Risk Management Research Laboratory, 26 W. Martin Luther King Dr., MS-387, Cincinnati, OH 45268. Phone: (513) 569-7085. Fax: (513) 569-7328. E-mail: santodomingo.jorge{at}epa.gov

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 24 July 2009.

{dagger} Supplemental material for this article may be found at http://aem.asm.org/.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, September 2009, p. 5919-5926, Vol. 75, No. 18
0099-2240/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.00462-09
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.





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