Persistence and Decay of Fecal Microbiota in Aquatic Habitats

摘要: Fecal microorganisms can enter water bodies in diverse ways, including runoff, sewage discharge, and direct fecal deposition. Once water, the experience conditions that are very different from intestinal habitats. The transition host to aquatic environment may lead rapid inactivation, some degree of persistence, or growth. Microorganisms remain planktonic, be deposited sediment, wash up on beaches, attach vegetation. Each these habitats offers a panoply stressors advantages, UV light exposure, temperature fluctuations, salinity, nutrient availability, biotic interactions with indigenous microbiota (e.g., predation and/or competition). sources likewise numerous, wildlife, pets, livestock, humans. Most unlikely affect human health, but certain taxa cause waterborne disease. Others signal increased probability pathogen presence, e.g., indicator bacteria Escherichia coli enterococci bacteriophages, act as source identifiers (microbial tracking markers). effects environmental factors decay frequently inconsistent across microbial species, sources, measurement strategies culture versus molecular). Therefore, broad generalizations about fate environments problematic, compromising efforts predict health risk contamination events. This review summarizes recent literature environments, recognizes defensible generalizations, identifies knowledge gaps provide particularly fruitful avenues for obtaining better understanding fates organisms environments.