Matthew J. Morgan
Jason Wylie
Tom Walsh
Sergio Domingos
Suzanne Metcalfe
Anna H. Kaksonen
Elliott P. Barnhart
Rebecca C. Mueller
Brent M. Peyton
Geoffrey J. Puzon
Natalia Malinowski
2024
<div id="abs0002" class="abstract author"><div id="abss0002"><p id="spara008"><i>Naegleria fowleri</i><span> </span>has been detected in drinking water distribution systems (DWDS) in Australia, Pakistan and the United States and is the causative agent of the highly fatal disease primary amoebic meningoencephalitis. Previous small scale field studies have shown that<span> </span><i>Meiothermus</i><span> </span>may be a potential biomarker for<span> </span><i>N. fowleri</i>. However, correlations between predictive biomarkers in small sample sizes often breakdown when applied to larger more representative datasets. This study represents one of the largest and most rigorous temporal investigations of<span> </span><i>Naegleria fowleri</i><span> </span>colonisation in an operational DWDS in the world and measured the association of<span> </span><i>Meiothermus</i><span> </span>and<span> </span><i>N. fowleri</i><span> </span>over a significantly larger space and time in the DWDS. A total of 232 samples were collected from five sites over three-years (2016-2018), which contained 29 positive<span> </span><i>N. fowleri</i><span> </span>samples. Two specific operational taxonomic units assigned to<span> </span><i>M. chliarophilus</i><span> </span>and<span> </span><i>M. hypogaeus,</i><span> </span>were significantly associated with<span> </span><i>N. fowleri</i><span> </span>presence. Furthermore, inoculation experiments demonstrated that<span> </span><i>Meiothermus</i><span> </span>was required to support<span> </span><i>N. fowleri</i><span> </span>growth in field-collected biofilms. This validates<span> </span><i>Meiothermus</i><span> </span>as prospective biological tool to aid in the identification and surveillance of<span> </span><i>N. fowleri</i><span> </span>colonisable sites.</p></div></div>
application/pdf
10.1016/j.watres.2024.121426
en
Elsevier
Prokaryotic microbial ecology as an ecosurveillance tool for eukaryotic pathogen colonisation: Meiothermus and Naegleria fowleri
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