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Pathogens
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Pathogens in Aquatic Environments
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Pathogens in Aquatic Environments

A special issue of Pathogens (ISSN 2076-0817).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 February 2023) | Viewed by 11733

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Bing-Mu Hsu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, National Chung Cheng University, Min-Hsiung, Taiwan
Interests: environmental microbiology; geomicrobiology; microbial pathogens
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Jung-Sheng Chen

E-Mail Website
Assistant Guest Editor
Department of Medical Research, E-Da Hospital, Kaohsiung City, Taiwan
Interests: environmental microbiology; microbial source tracking; parasitology; microbiota; environmental pathogens; clinical microbiology
Dr. Jagat Rathod

E-Mail Website
Assistant Guest Editor
Department of Earth Sciences, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan City, Taiwan
Interests: Groundwater/subsurface microbiology; Anaerobic pathogens; C. difficile; Environmental interactions

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Global water resource contamination by waterborne pathogens and the related diseases they cause are major health concerns throughout the world. Real-time monitoring of potential waterborne pathogens provides up-to-date information based on culture-dependent and culture-independent molecular methods for further detection, enumeration, and study. Furthermore, antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has not only been thought of as a devastating problem primarily in the human clinical domain but has also been a recognized issue in domesticated animals and aquaculture. Therefore, understanding multidrug-resistant or antibiotic-resistant pathogens and their harbored antibiotic-resistant genes in aquatic environments is a critical need. Thorough investigations on their dissemination, sources, and interactions are warranted, which are significant in underpinning the strategy to curb their presence and spread. Recently, the effects of climate change and rising temperatures have shown a dynamic shift in the aquatic niches’ selection and pathogen growth as biofilms and other forms. This Special Issue aims to provide the most current observations in the field of aquatic environment pathogens with respect to waterborne epidemiology, detection methods, interactions, environmental occurrence and persistence, and prevention or sanitization methods for unique aquatic environments. Potential topics include but are not limited to:

  • Pathogens in water and sanitation systems;
  • Novel methods for enumerating pathogens;
  • A new and critical dimension to view aquatic antibiotic resistance pathogens;
  • Relevant technologies for sanitation management.

Dr. Bing-Mu Hsu
Guest Editor
Dr. Jung-Sheng Chen
Dr. Jagat Rathod
Assistant Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Pathogens is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • waterborne pathogens
  • antimicrobial resistance (AMR)
  • aquatic environment
  • biofilms

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

11 pages, 2253 KiB  
Communication
Influence of Environmental Factors on Biofilm Formation of Staphylococci Isolated from Wastewater and Surface Water
by Vanessa Silva, José Eduardo Pereira, Luís Maltez, Patrícia Poeta and Gilberto Igrejas
Pathogens 2022, 11(10), 1069; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/pathogens11101069 - 20 Sep 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2047
Abstract
The presence of biofilms can negatively affect several different areas, such as the food industry, environment, and biomedical sectors. Conditions under which bacteria grow and develop, such as temperature, nutrients, and pH, among others, can largely influence biofilm production. Staphylococcus species survive in [...] Read more.
The presence of biofilms can negatively affect several different areas, such as the food industry, environment, and biomedical sectors. Conditions under which bacteria grow and develop, such as temperature, nutrients, and pH, among others, can largely influence biofilm production. Staphylococcus species survive in the natural environment due to their tolerance to a wide range of temperatures, dryness, dehydration, and low water activity. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate the influence of external environmental factors on the formation of biofilm of staphylococci isolated from hospital wastewater and surface waters. We investigated the biofilm formation of methicillin-resistant and -susceptible S. aureus (MRSA and MSSA) and coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS) under various temperatures, pH values, salt concentrations, glucose concentrations, and under anaerobic and aerobic conditions. CoNS had the ability to produce more biofilm biomass than MSSA and MRSA. All environmental factors studied influenced the biofilm formation of staphylococci isolates after 24 h of incubation. Higher biofilm formation was achieved at 4% of NaCl and 0.5% of glucose for MSSA and CoNS, and 1% of NaCl and 1.5% of glucose for MRSA isolates. Biofilm formation of isolates was greater at 25 °C and 37 °C than at 10 °C and 4 °C. pH values between 6 and 8 led to more robust biofilm formation than pH levels of 9 and 5. Although staphylococci are facultative anaerobes, biofilm formation was higher in the presence of oxygen. The results demonstrated that multiple environmental factors affect staphylococci biofilm formation. Different conditions affect differently the biofilm formation of MRSA, MSSA, and CoNS strains. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Pathogens in Aquatic Environments)
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15 pages, 2812 KiB  
Article
Assay for Evaluating the Abundance of Vibrio cholerae and Its O1 Serogroup Subpopulation from Water without DNA Extraction
by Tania Nasreen, Nora A.S. Hussain, Jia Yee Ho, Vanessa Zhi Jie Aw, Munirul Alam, Stephanie K. Yanow and Yann F. Boucher
Pathogens 2022, 11(3), 363; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/pathogens11030363 - 16 Mar 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3206
Abstract
Cholera is a severe diarrheal disease caused by Vibrio cholerae, a natural inhabitant of brackish water. Effective control of cholera outbreaks depends on prompt detection of the pathogen from clinical specimens and tracking its source in the environment. Although the epidemiology of [...] Read more.
Cholera is a severe diarrheal disease caused by Vibrio cholerae, a natural inhabitant of brackish water. Effective control of cholera outbreaks depends on prompt detection of the pathogen from clinical specimens and tracking its source in the environment. Although the epidemiology of cholera is well studied, rapid detection of V. cholerae remains a challenge, and data on its abundance in environmental sources are limited. Here, we describe a sensitive molecular quantification assay by qPCR, which can be used on-site in low-resource settings on water without the need for DNA extraction. This newly optimized method exhibited 100% specificity for total V. cholerae as well as V. cholerae O1 and allowed detection of as few as three target CFU per reaction. The limit of detection is as low as 5 × 103 CFU/L of water after concentrating biomass from the sample. The ability to perform qPCR on water samples without DNA extraction, portable features of the equipment, stability of the reagents at 4 °C and user-friendly online software facilitate fast quantitative analysis of V. cholerae. These characteristics make this assay extremely useful for field research in resource-poor settings and could support continuous monitoring in cholera-endemic areas. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Pathogens in Aquatic Environments)
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16 pages, 1276 KiB  
Article
Surveillance of Adenovirus and Norovirus Contaminants in the Water and Shellfish of Major Oyster Breeding Farms and Fishing Ports in Taiwan
by Viji Nagarajan, Jung-Sheng Chen, Gwo-Jong Hsu, Hsin-Pao Chen, Hung-Chun Chao, Shih-Wei Huang, I-Sen Tsai and Bing-Mu Hsu
Pathogens 2022, 11(3), 316; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/pathogens11030316 - 03 Mar 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2817
Abstract
The enteric viruses, including adenovirus (AdVs) and norovirus (NoVs), in shellfish is a significant food safety risk. This study investigated the prevalence, seasonal occurrence, genetic diversity, and quantification of AdVs and NoVs in the water and cultured shellfish samples at the four major [...] Read more.
The enteric viruses, including adenovirus (AdVs) and norovirus (NoVs), in shellfish is a significant food safety risk. This study investigated the prevalence, seasonal occurrence, genetic diversity, and quantification of AdVs and NoVs in the water and cultured shellfish samples at the four major coastal oyster breeding farms (COBF), five major fishing ports (FP), and their markets in Taiwan. The AdVs/NoVs in the water and shellfish samples were isolated by the membrane filtration and direct elution methods. The RNA of NoVs was reverse-transcribed into complementary DNA through reverse transcription reaction. Further NoVs and AdVs were detected using nested PCR. A higher detection rate was recorded in the low-temperature period than high-temperature. Detection difference was noted between nested PCR and qPCR outcomes for AdVs. The total detection rate of AdVs was higher in the water samples (COBF-40.6%, FP 20%) than the shellfish samples (COBF-11.7% and FP 6.3%). The AdVs load in the water and shellfish samples ranged from 1.23 × 103 to 1.00 × 106 copies/L and 3.57 × 103 to 4.27 × 104 copies/100g, respectively. The total detection of NoVs was highest in the water samples of the FP and their market shellfish samples (11.1% and 3.2%, respectively). Genotyping and phylogenetic analysis were identified as the prevalent AdVs and NoVs genotypes in the water and shellfish samples: A species HAdVs serotype 12; F species HAdVs serotype 41; and C species PAdVs serotype 5 (NoVs GI.2, GI.3 and GII.2). No significant differences were observed between the presence of AdVs, and all of the water quality parameters evaluated (heterotrophic plate count, water temperature, turbidity, pH, salinity, and dissolved oxygen). The virus contamination occurs mainly due to the direct discharge of domestic sewage, livestock farm, and fishing market wastewater into the coastal environment. Thus, this study suggested framing better estuarine management to prevent AdVs/NoVs transmission in water and cultured/distributed shellfish. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Pathogens in Aquatic Environments)
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Graphical abstract

8 pages, 827 KiB  
Communication
Preliminary Results on the Prevalence of Salmonella spp. in Marine Animals Stranded in Sicilian Coasts: Antibiotic Susceptibility Profile and ARGs Detection in the Isolated Strains
by Delia Gambino, Sonia Sciortino, Sergio Migliore, Lucia Galuppo, Roberto Puleio, Salvatore Dara, Domenico Vicari, Salvatore Seminara and Valeria Gargano
Pathogens 2021, 10(8), 930; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/pathogens10080930 - 23 Jul 2021
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2399
Abstract
The presence of Salmonella spp. in marine animals is a consequence of contamination from terrestrial sources (human activities and animals). Bacteria present in marine environments, including Salmonella spp., can be antibiotic resistant or harbor resistance genes. In this study, Salmonella spp. detection was [...] Read more.
The presence of Salmonella spp. in marine animals is a consequence of contamination from terrestrial sources (human activities and animals). Bacteria present in marine environments, including Salmonella spp., can be antibiotic resistant or harbor resistance genes. In this study, Salmonella spp. detection was performed on 176 marine animals stranded in the Sicilian coasts (south Italy). Antibiotic susceptibility, by disk diffusion method and MIC determination, and antibiotic resistance genes, by molecular methods (PCR) of the Salmonella spp. strains, were evaluated. We isolated Salmonella spp. in three animals, though no pathological signs were detected. Our results showed a low prevalence of Salmonella spp. (1.7%) and a low incidence of phenotypic resistance in three Salmonella spp. strains isolated. Indeed, of the three strains, only Salmonella subsp. enterica serovar Typhimurium from S. coeruleoalba and M. mobular showed phenotypic resistance: the first to ampicillin, tetracycline, and sulphamethoxazole, while the latter only to sulphamethoxazole. However, all strains harbored resistance genes (blaTEM, blaOXA, tet(A), tet(D), tet(E), sulI, and sulII). Although the low prevalence of Salmonella spp. found in this study does not represent a relevant health issue, our data contribute to the collection of information on the spread of ARGs, elements involved in antibiotic resistance, now considered a zoonosis in a One Health approach. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Pathogens in Aquatic Environments)
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