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Molecular detection of three gastroenteritis viruses in urban surface waters in Beijing and correlation with levels of fecal indicator bacteria

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Abstract

To assess the presence of three gastroenteritis viruses responsible for human acute gastroenteritis in surface water, a 1-year study was carried out in the city of Beijing, China. A total of 108 urban surface water samples were collected from nine collection sites which were defined with a global positioning system in rivers or lakes from September 2006 to August 2007. The water samples were subjected to virus concentration using an HA electronegative filter, followed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for rotavirus (RV) astrovirus (AV), and norovirus (NV). It showed that the number of viruses detected in water samples from different sites was variable, totaling 63 virus strains, with rotavirus (48.1%) verified as the most prevalent detected, followed by astrovirus (AV, 5.6%), and norovirus (NV, 4.6%). RV was also quantified by real-time PCR and the concentration of RV ranged from 0 to 18.27 genome copies·L−1. And the distributions of RV in surface water were abundant in cold weather (from September to February) while less prevailing in warm weather (from March to August). The high detection rate of RV we encountered in this study provided convincing evidence that RV circulated at a certain frequency in the Beijing population. There was no statistically significant correlation between RV levels and both fecal coliform (R 2 = 0.02) and Enterococcus faecalis (R 2 = 0.02) densities. Our study suggests prolonged virus persistence in aquatic environments and emphasizes the enteric virus group as the most reliable for environmental monitoring.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51108029), the National Key Technology R&D Program (2009ZX07527-005), National High Technology Research and Development Program (2008AA062501), and the Foundation of State Key Laboratory of Environmental Aquatic Chemistry (2009–001).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Biological Sciences and Technology, Beijing Forestry University, Qinghua East Rd 35, Haidian District, P. O. Box 162, Beijing, 100083, China

    Xiaoqing He, Yumei Wei, Li Cheng & Deyou Zhang

  2. State Key Laboratory of Environmental Aquatic Chemistry, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, P. O. Box 2871, Beijing, 100085, China

    Xiaoqing He, Yumei Wei, Li Cheng, Deyou Zhang & Zijian Wang

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  1. Xiaoqing He
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  2. Yumei Wei
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  3. Li Cheng
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  4. Deyou Zhang
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  5. Zijian Wang
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Correspondence to Xiaoqing He.

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He, X., Wei, Y., Cheng, L. et al. Molecular detection of three gastroenteritis viruses in urban surface waters in Beijing and correlation with levels of fecal indicator bacteria. Environ Monit Assess 184, 5563–5570 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-011-2362-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-011-2362-6

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