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Appl. Environ. Microbiol., 11 1996, 3997-4002, Vol 62, No. 11
BA Wiggins
Discriminant analysis of patterns of antibiotic resistance in fecal
streptococci was used to differentiate between human and animal sources of
fecal pollution in natural waters. A total of 1,435 isolates from 17
samples of cattle, poultry, human, and wild-animal wastes were obtained,
and their ability to grow in the presence of four concentrations of five
antibiotics (chlortetracycline, halofuginone, oxytetracycline, salinomycin,
and streptomycin) was measured. When the resulting antibiotic resistance
patterns were analyzed, an average of 74% of the known isolates were
correctly classified into one of six possible sources (beef, chicken,
dairy, human, turkey, or wild). Ninety- two percent of human isolates were
correctly classified. When the isolates were pooled into four possible
categories (cattle, human, poultry, and wild), the average rate of correct
classification (ARCC) increased to 84%. Human versus animal isolates were
correctly classified at an average rate of 95%. Human versus wild isolates
had an ARCC of 98%, and cattle versus poultry isolates had an ARCC of 92%.
When fecal streptococci that were isolated from surface waters receiving
fecal pollution from unknown origins were analyzed, 72% of the isolates
from one stream and 68% of the isolates from another were classified as
cattle isolates. Because the correct classification rates of these fecal
streptococci are much higher than would be expected by chance alone, the
use of discriminant analysis appears to hold promise as a method to
determine the sources of fecal pollution in natural waters.
Copyright © 1996, American Society for Microbiology
Discriminant analysis of antibiotic resistance patterns in fecal streptococci, a method to differentiate human and animal sources of fecal pollution in natural waters
Department of Biology, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, Virginia 22807, USA. wigginba@jmu.edu
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