Multiparametric monitoring of microbial faecal pollution reveals the dominance of human contamination along the whole Danube River.

ABSTRACT: The microbial faecal pollution of rivers has wide-ranging impacts on a variety of human activities that rely on appropriate river water quality. Thus, detailed knowledge of the extent and origin of microbial faecal pollution is crucial for watershed management activities to maintain safe water use. In this study, the microbial faecal pollution levels were monitored by standard faecal indicator bacteria (SFIB) along a 2580 km stretch of the Danube, the world's most international river, as well as the Danube's most important tributaries. To track the origin of faecal pollution, host-associated Bacteroidetes genetic faecal marker qPCR assays for different host groups were applied in concert with SFIB. The spatial resolution analysis was followed by a time resolution analysis of faecal polluti

SUBMITTER: Kirschner AKT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5718294 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature