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Updated: Jan 22, 2026

Guided Protocol for Fecal Microbial Characterization by 16S rRNA-Amplicon Sequencing
Published on: March 19, 2018
Aquatic microbial diversity associated with faecal pollution of Norwegian waterbodies characterized by 16S rRNA gene
Lisa Paruch1, Adam M Paruch1, Hans Geir Eiken1
1Division of Environment and Natural Resources, Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research (NIBIO), Fredrik A. Dahls vei 20, 1433, Aas, Norway.
Abstract:
Faecal contamination is one of the major factors affecting biological water quality. In this study, we investigated microbial taxonomic diversity of faecally polluted lotic ecosystems in Norway. These ecosystems comprise tributaries of drinking water reservoirs with moderate and high faecal contamination levels, an urban creek exposed to extremely high faecal pollution and a rural creek that was the least faecally polluted. The faecal water contamination had both anthropogenic and zoogenic origins identified through quantitative microbial source tracking applying host-specific Bacteroidales 16S rRNA genetic markers. The microbial community composition revealed that Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes (70-90% relative abundance) were the most dominant bacterial phyla, followed by Firmicutes, especially in waters exposed to anthropogenic faecal contamination. The core archaeal community consisted of Parvarchaeota (mainly in the tributaries of drinking water reservoirs) and Crenarchaeota (in the rural creek). The aquatic microbial diversity was substantially reduced in water with severe faecal contamination. In addition, the community compositions diverge between waters with dominant anthropogenic or zoogenic pollution origins. These findings present novel interpretations of the effect of anthropo-zoogenic faecal water contamination on microbial diversity in lotic ecosystems.
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