Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Applied and Environmental Microbiology logoLink to Applied and Environmental Microbiology
. 1989 Oct;55(10):2696–2701. doi: 10.1128/aem.55.10.2696-2701.1989

Human origin of Bacteroides fragilis bacteriophages present in the environment.

C Tartera 1, F Lucena 1, J Jofre 1
PMCID: PMC203146  PMID: 2604407

Abstract

Bacteroides fragilis HSP40 phages have been detected in waters with various levels of fecal contamination of human origin. The average numbers of B. fragilis phages present in sewage water reached 5.3 x 10(3) per 100 ml of water. We found a number 1,000 times lower in a river contaminated with domestic sewage only, in which the levels of fecal coliforms and fecal streptococci were 10,000 times lower than those found in raw sewage. In addition, B. fragilis phages were not found in significant numbers in slaughterhouse wastewaters. They were not present in fecal-polluted waters containing fecal contamination from wildlife only. Although the number of B. fragilis phages present in contaminated waters was lower than the number of coliphages, their presence indicated human fecal contamination. It is also shown that Bacteroides phages are only able to multiply under anaerobic conditions in the presence of nutrients, and they cannot multiply in natural waters and sediments.

Full text

PDF
2696

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Cooper S. W., Szymczak E. G., Jacobus N. V., Tally F. P. Differentiation of Bacteroides ovatus and Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron by means of bacteriophage. J Clin Microbiol. 1984 Dec;20(6):1122–1125. doi: 10.1128/jcm.20.6.1122-1125.1984. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Gerba C. P., Smith E. M., Melnick J. L. Development of a quantitative method for detecting enteroviruses in estuarine sediments. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1977 Aug;34(2):158–163. doi: 10.1128/aem.34.2.158-163.1977. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Handford P. M. A new medium for the detection and enumeration of Clostridium perfringens in foods. J Appl Bacteriol. 1974 Dec;37(4):559–570. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2672.1974.tb00481.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Kai M., Watanabe S., Furuse K., Ozawa A. Bacteroides bacteriophages isolated from human feces. Microbiol Immunol. 1985;29(9):895–899. doi: 10.1111/j.1348-0421.1985.tb00891.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Keller R., Traub N. The characterization of Bacteroides fragilis bacteriophage recovered from animal sera: observations on the nature of bacteroides phage carrier cultures. J Gen Virol. 1974 Jul;24(1):179–189. doi: 10.1099/0022-1317-24-1-179. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Mara D. D., Oragui J. Bacteriological methods for distinguishing between human and animal faecal pollution of water: results of fieldwork in Nigeria and Zimbabwe. Bull World Health Organ. 1985;63(4):773–783. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Melnick J. L., Gerba C. P. Viruses in water and soil. Public Health Rev. 1980 Jul-Dec;9(3-4):185–213. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Melnick J. L., Gerba C. P., Wallis C. Viruses in water. Bull World Health Organ. 1978;56(4):499–508. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Primrose S. B., Seeley N. D., Logan K. B., Nicolson J. W. Methods for studying aquatic bacteriophage ecology. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1982 Mar;43(3):694–701. doi: 10.1128/aem.43.3.694-701.1982. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Simková A., Cervenka J. Coliphages as ecological indicators of enteroviruses in various water systems. Bull World Health Organ. 1981;59(4):611–618. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Stetler R. E., Ward R. L., Waltrip S. C. Enteric virus and indicator bacteria levels in a water treatment system modified to reduce trihalomethane production. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1984 Feb;47(2):319–324. doi: 10.1128/aem.47.2.319-324.1984. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Tartera C., Jofre J. Bacteriophages active against Bacteroides fragilis in sewage-polluted waters. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1987 Jul;53(7):1632–1637. doi: 10.1128/aem.53.7.1632-1637.1987. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Applied and Environmental Microbiology are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES