Nonbacterial Microflora in Wastewater Treatment Plants: an Underappreciated Potential Source of Pathogens

Ariyadasa, Sujani; Taylor, W. Rowland; Weaver, Louise; McGill, Erin; Billington, Craig; Pattis, Isabelle

doi:10.1128/spectrum.00481-23

Cited by 7 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 75 publications

(96 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Viruses in Mimiviridae , Pandoravirus , and Pithoviridae families are the eukaryotic giant viruses that infect the amoebozoan species Acanthamoeba, which is one of the most common protozoa in a variety of environments including the wastewater treatment systems [ 43 ]. Members of the Phycodnaviridae family can infect a range of protists and algae [ 44 , 45 ]. Viruses that infect mammals were identified in relatively small proportions.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A broad wastewater screening and clinical data surveillance for virus-related diseases in the metropolitan Detroit area in Michigan

Li,

Miyani,

Faust

et al. 2024

Hum Genomics

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background Periodic bioinformatics-based screening of wastewater for assessing the diversity of potential human viral pathogens circulating in a given community may help to identify novel or potentially emerging infectious diseases. Any identified contigs related to novel or emerging viruses should be confirmed with targeted wastewater and clinical testing. Results During the COVID-19 pandemic, untreated wastewater samples were collected for a 1-year period from the Great Lakes Water Authority Wastewater Treatment Facility in Detroit, MI, USA, and viral population diversity from both centralized interceptor sites and localized neighborhood sewersheds was investigated. Clinical cases of the diseases caused by human viruses were tabulated and compared with data from viral wastewater monitoring. In addition to Betacoronavirus, comparison using assembled contigs against a custom Swiss-Prot human virus database indicated the potential prevalence of other pathogenic virus genera, including: Orthopoxvirus, Rhadinovirus, Parapoxvirus, Varicellovirus, Hepatovirus, Simplexvirus, Bocaparvovirus, Molluscipoxvirus, Parechovirus, Roseolovirus, Lymphocryptovirus, Alphavirus, Spumavirus, Lentivirus, Deltaretrovirus, Enterovirus, Kobuvirus, Gammaretrovirus, Cardiovirus, Erythroparvovirus, Salivirus, Rubivirus, Orthohepevirus, Cytomegalovirus, Norovirus, and Mamastrovirus. Four nearly complete genomes were recovered from the Astrovirus, Enterovirus, Norovirus and Betapolyomavirus genera and viral species were identified. Conclusions The presented findings in wastewater samples are primarily at the genus level and can serve as a preliminary “screening” tool that may serve as indication to initiate further testing for the confirmation of the presence of species that may be associated with human disease. Integrating innovative environmental microbiology technologies like metagenomic sequencing with viral epidemiology offers a significant opportunity to improve the monitoring of, and predictive intelligence for, pathogenic viruses, using wastewater.

show abstract

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A broad wastewater screening and clinical data surveillance for virus-related diseases in the metropolitan Detroit area in Michigan

Li,

Miyani,

Faust

et al. 2024

Hum Genomics

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Apicomplexa (~ 57.2% in inlet and ~ 46.9% in outlet) were the most dominant protozoa in the New Zealand’s wastewater, followed by Cercozoa, Evosea, Euglenozoa, Microsporidia, and Fornicata 5 . At the genus level, Apicomplexa in wastewater was mainly represented by Plasmodium , Toxoplasma , Cryptosporidium , Giardia , Babesia , and Theileria 5 . Similar to the study of Ariyadasa et al 5 , the relative abundance of Cryptosporidium decreased in outlet compared to the inlet.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…At the genus level, Apicomplexa in wastewater was mainly represented by Plasmodium , Toxoplasma , Cryptosporidium , Giardia , Babesia , and Theileria 5 . Similar to the study of Ariyadasa et al 5 , the relative abundance of Cryptosporidium decreased in outlet compared to the inlet. In earlier researches, conventional detection methods consistently revealed that wastewater was a potential hotspot for parasites 33 – 35 .…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Rivers and wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) harbor a diverse microbial community that goes beyond prokaryotes, encompassing eukaryotic entities such as protozoa, fungi, algae, and microscopic metazoans 1 – 3 . The microbial communities not only affect the efficiency and stability of the WWTP but also may impact human health and the environment upon discharge of wastewater into the receiving environment 4 , 5 . Among the microbial communities, Apicomplexa stands out as a fundamentally parasitic microeukaryotic group.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

PacBio next-generation sequencing uncovers Apicomplexa diversity in different habitats

Gad,

Fawzy,

Al-Herrawy

et al. 2023

Sci Rep

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The phylum Apicomplexa comprises a large group of intracellular protozoan parasites. These microorganisms are known to infect a variety of vertebrate and invertebrate hosts, leading to significant medical and veterinary conditions such as toxoplasmosis, cryptosporidiosis, theileriosis, and eimeriosis. Despite their importance, comprehensive data on their diversity and distribution, especially in riverine environments, remain scant. To bridge this knowledge gap, we utilized next-generation high-throughput 18S rRNA amplicon sequencing powered by PacBio technology to explore the diversity and composition of the Apicomplexa taxa. Principal component analysis (PCA) and principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) indicated the habitat heterogeneity for the physicochemical parameters and the Apicomplexa community. These results were supported by PERMANOVA (P < 0.001), ANOSIM (P < 0.001), Cluster analysis, and Venn diagram. Dominant genera of Apicomplexa in inlet samples included Gregarina (38.54%), Cryptosporidium (32.29%), and Leidyana (11.90%). In contrast, outlet samples were dominated by Babesia, Cryptosporidium, and Theileria. While surface water samples revealed 16% and 8.33% relative abundance of Toxoplasma and Cryptosporidium, respectively. To our knowledge, the next-generation high throughput sequencing covered a wide range of parasites in Egypt for the first time, which could be useful for legislation of the standards for drinking water and wastewater reuse.

show abstract

“…Similarly, seedlings consumed as microgreens/microherbs present a favorable environment for the extensive growth of STEC . Furthermore, nonbacterial microbiota in wastewater remains understudied and less understood compared to their bacterial counterparts, despite their importance in the wastewater treatment process . Indeed, viruses, such as Noro- and Rota-viruses, are resistant to wastewater treatment and can persist for several months in the raw sewage and runoff waters from WWTPs as well as in surface waters used in agriculture. , Similarly, parasites such as Cryptosporidium parvum and Giardia lamblia have been shown to persist in soil for long periods .…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cross-Cutting Approach for the Characterization of Microbial Emerging Hazards in Agriculture Settings from Circular Economy-Driven Wastewater Streams

Barbieri,

Gigliucci,

Brambilla

et al. 2023

Environ. Health

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The recycling of biowaste from municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in agriculture represents a circular economy-driven source of water and nutrients to support food system sustainability. However, biowaste may represent the source of emerging hazards of anthropogenic and animal origin that can transfer from agricultural soils to related food production, posing a risk to consumers' health, as in the case of outbreaks due to the consumption of ready-to-eat leafy vegetables contaminated with pathogenic E. coli. From this perspective, we propose a combined strategy based on both classical methods and culture-independent metagenomics approaches to identify microbial hazards relevant to foodborne diseases in WWTP-related biowastes. The virulence genes targeted by real-time PCR, performed before and after the enrichment of the raw samples, may represent a proxy for the viability of pathogens, the presence of which is then confirmed via classical microbiological methods. Bioinformatics analysis of shotgun metagenomic sequences could assess the presence of genes associated with resistance to specific antimicrobials followed by phenotypic confirmation via cultivation of the raw samples in the presence of the predicted molecules. Bacterial 16S rDNA analysis supports biowaste traceability based on their taxonomic composition. This strategy would support a "One Health" Action based on a cross-cutting assessment of emerging food-borne risks along the food chain.

show abstract

Nonbacterial Microflora in Wastewater Treatment Plants: an Underappreciated Potential Source of Pathogens

Cited by 7 publications

References 75 publications

A broad wastewater screening and clinical data surveillance for virus-related diseases in the metropolitan Detroit area in Michigan

A broad wastewater screening and clinical data surveillance for virus-related diseases in the metropolitan Detroit area in Michigan

PacBio next-generation sequencing uncovers Apicomplexa diversity in different habitats

Cross-Cutting Approach for the Characterization of Microbial Emerging Hazards in Agriculture Settings from Circular Economy-Driven Wastewater Streams

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About