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CONTENT ALERTS
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In 2012, the U.S. EPA suggested that coastal and Great Lakes states adopt enterococci as an alternative indicator for the monitoring of recreational water quality. Limited information, however, is available about the presence and persistence of enterococci in
Lake Superior. In this study, the density, species composition, and persistence of enterococci in sand, sediment, water, and soil
samples were examined at two sites in a Lake Superior watershed from May to September over a 2-year period. The genetic diversity of Enterococcus faecalis isolates collected from environmental samples was also studied by using the horizontal, fluorophore-enhanced repetitive PCR DNA fingerprinting technique. Results obtained by most-probable-number analyses indicated
that enterococci were present in 149 (94%) of 159 samples and their densities were generally higher in the summer than in the
other months examined. The Enterococcus species composition displayed spatial and temporal changes, with the dominant species being E. hirae, E. faecalis, E. faecium, E. mundtii, and E. casseliflavus. DNA fingerprint analyses indicated that the E. faecalis
population in the watershed was genetically diverse and changed spatially and temporally. Moreover, some DNA fingerprints
reoccurred over multiple sampling events. Taken together, these results suggest that some enterococci are able to persist and
grow in the Lake Superior watershed, especially in soil, for a prolonged time after being introduced.
Ran et al.
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FIG 1 Study sites at Lake Superior. (A) Sampling sites in the Lake Superior
watershed. (B) Sampling areas at the DBC. (C) Sampling areas at the KS site.
Legend: DBC Duluth Boat Club beach; KS Kingsbury Creek bank. Panels
A and C are modified from reference 2.
tions (24). This bacterium is the primary Enterococcus species inhabiting the intestinal tracts of humans and some animals (25)
and is the predominant species causing hospital-acquired infections (26). The majority of studies on the survival of E. faecalis
have been done in medical fields (2729), and many environmental studies have examined the survival and genetic diversity of a
limited number of Enterococcus species (15, 30). Therefore, there
is very limited information on the survival of E. faecalis in the
environment. One of the few studies done under lab conditions
found that E. faecalis survived longer than E. coli did in sand microcosms (31). Moreover, there is currently little information on
the genetic relatedness among E. faecalis strains isolated from different habitats.
The objective of the studies reported here was to examine the
occurrence of enterococci in sand, sediment, water, and soil in a
Lake Superior watershed. Two different sites were included: the
new Duluth Boat Club (DBC) beach site and the Kingsbury Creek
bank site. Moreover, the studies also examined changes in Enterococcus species composition over considerable spatial and temporal
ranges. The E. faecalis isolates identified were genotyped to examine their genetic diversity, and since naturalized E. coli strains have
been isolated from both sites (2, 32), we further determined if
enterococci could also persist in these two habitats.
RESULTS
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represent standard errors. The same letter in more than one bar indicates that there is no significant difference (P 0.05). BDL1 indicates that enterococcal
densities were below the detection limit (1 CFU/2 g of original sample) of the MF technique. The BDL2 indicates that the enterococcal densities were below the
detection limit (1.8 MPN/10 g of original sample) of the MPN technique. The numbers (5, 6, 7, 8, and 9) on the x axis represent sampling months (May, June,
July, August, and September, respectively). Samples: S5, submerged sediment located 5 m from the waterline; SL, wet sand located at the waterline; NS, wet sand
located 1 m upshore from the waterline; US, dry sand located 8 m upshore from the waterline; W, water; KS5, soil located 5 m from the creek water; KS14, soil
located 14 m from the creek water; KS14I, soil in exclosure boxes.
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FIG 2 Density of enterococci in the Lake Superior watershed. The densities and temperatures are shown as bar and scatter-line plots, respectively. Error bars
strains isolated from the Lake Superior watershed. A cutoff value of 85% was
selected in order to display the dendrogram. The number next to a cluster is the
number of isolates in that cluster.
watershed. *, the number of isolates analyzed was less than 24; ND, no data
available as densities were below the detection limit; NA, data not accessible;
S5, submerged sediment located 5 m from the waterline; SL, wet sand located
at the waterline; NS, wet sand located 1 m upshore from the waterline; US, dry
sand located 8 m upshore from the waterline; W, water; KS5, soil located 5 m
from the creek water; KS14, soil located 14 m from the creek water; KS14I, soil
in exclosure boxes.
Second Discrimin
nant 24%
2010 DBC
2011 DBC
2010 KS
2011 KS
FIG 5 MANOVA of all HFERP DNA fingerprints generated from environmental E. faecalis isolates grouped by year and site. The discriminants are
shown by the distance along the x and y axes. The percentage of variation each
discriminant accounts for is shown, and the number before the site name
indicates the year the isolates were collected.
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2011
Yr and site
DBC
KS
DBC
KS
2010
DBC
KS
71.4
13.0
5.7
84.3
12.3
7.7
16.1
8.0
2011
DBC
KS
13.6
1.9
7.1
2.9
72.9
7.1
DISCUSSION
Percent Similarity
97
100
1/25-KS14-July 2010
21/25-KS5-August
21/2
S A
2010
21/25-KS14-August 2010
1/7-KS5-September 2010
8/10-KS14-September 2010
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Recurrent DBC
Unique DBC
Recurrent KS
Unique KS
KS14I
First
i Discriminant
i i i
82%
2%
likely grow when environmental conditions (moisture and temperature) become favorable.
The densities of enterococci were positively correlated with
sample temperatures (DBC, r 0.57, P 9.4 108; KS, r
0.51, P 0.01). Since our samples were taken from the top layer of
the sampling areas around noon, the sample temperature was
quite close to the air temperature, which could reach around 33C
in July. This is quite close to the optimum growth temperature for
enterococci (35C). Moreover, nutrients, including sea grass debris carried onto the beach sand by wave action and natural grass
at the KS site, might also favor the persistence and growth of these
bacteria in the summer months.
To test if enterococci could persist for a prolonged time or
become naturalized (2) to the environment examined, we covered the sampling area at the KS14 site to avoid direct contamination from external sources. We consistently isolated enterococci
within exclosure boxes. Since the sampling areas were covered, the
isolates were likely independent of recent contamination events
and represented persistent enterococci in the environment. The
disappearance and reappearance of enterococci and the inconsistent Enterococcus species composition in our study might be due
to the heterogeneous character of the microbial community in the
soil environment and the limited number of culturable enterococci studied.
The presence of persistent enterococci at the study site was also
supported by the presence of recurrent E. faecalis DNA fingerprints over multiple sampling events, especially those strains
isolated at the KS site. There is limited human activity at the KS
site, and there was not consistent precipitation before sampling
KS14I-2011). As expected, the moisture of the samples in the exclosures was slightly lower than that of soil exposed to the environment (June, KS14, 11%, KS14I, 10%; July, KS14, 17%, KS14I,
15%). Isolates of E. faecalis, E. casseliflavus, E. mundtii, and E. hirae
were consistently isolated from exclosure boxes from July to September, after the sampling areas were protected (Fig. 3, KS14I2011).
Since the exclosure boxes limited direct enterococcal input
from external sources, it was of interest to examine the genetic
diversity of the E. faecalis isolates in the exclosure boxes at the
KS14 site. The population of E. faecalis in the exclosure boxes was
relatively diverse, and 17 genotypes, with similarity values ranging
from 49.0 to 92.5%, were identified among 47 isolates. One large
group contained 18 isolates that were collected in August 2011. No
fingerprints appeared over multiple sampling events. Moreover,
MANOVA showed that these isolates tended to be separate from
other isolates from the KS site (Fig. 7B). Because of disruption of
the sampling area by road construction, the isolates collected in
September 2011 were excluded from the MANOVA.
Recurrent KS
Unique KS
16.1
59.8
Second Discriminant 18 %
2010
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isolates likely reflect diverse input sources and multiple environmental factors influencing the growth and distribution of enterococci.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This work was funded in part by the Minnesota Sea Grant College Program, supported by the NOAA Office of Sea Grant, United States Department of Commerce, under grant no. R/CC-02-10. This paper is journal
reprint no. JR 604 of the Minnesota Sea Grant College Program.
We thank Matthew Hamilton and John Ferguson for help with
HFERP DNA fingerprint analyses and Jessica Eichmiller for her assistance
with sampling. We also thank Alexandria Boehm and Dawn Manias for
providing strains and Charlene Jackson for multiplex PCR support.
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