Distribution of faecal indicator bacteria in tropical waters of Peninsular Malaysia and their decay rates in tropical seawater

Wong, Yi You and Lee, Choon Weng and Chai, Stanley Choon Yip and Lim, Joon Hai and Bong, Chui Wei and Sim, Edmund Ui Hang and Narayanan, Kumaran and Hii, Yii Siang and Wang, Ai -Jun (2022) Distribution of faecal indicator bacteria in tropical waters of Peninsular Malaysia and their decay rates in tropical seawater. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 185 (A). ISSN 0025-326X, DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2022.114297.

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Abstract

We investigated the appropriateness of faecal indicator bacteria in tropical waters. We compared total coliform (undetectable to 7.2 x 105 cfu 100 mL-1), faecal coliform (undetectable to 6.1 x 105 cfu 100 mL-1) and enterococci (undetectable to 3.1 x 104 cfu 100 mL-1) distribution in Peninsular Malaysia. Faecal indicator bacteria was highest in freshwater, and lowest in seawater (q > 4.18, p < 0.01). We also measured the decay rates of Escherichia coli and Enterococcus faecium in microcosms. In seawater, average decay rate for E. coli was 0.084 +/- 0.029 h-1, and higher than E. faecium (0.048 +/- 0.024 h-1) (t = 2.527, p < 0.05). Grazing accounted for 54 % of both E. coli and E. faecium decay. E. coli decayed in the <0.02 mu m seawater fraction (0.023 +/- 0.012 h-1) but E. faecium sometimes grew. Seawater warming further uncoupled the response from both E. coli and E. faecium as E. faecium grew and E. coli decayed with warming. Our results suggested that the prevalence of faecal indicator bacteria in tropical waters was not due to faecal pollution alone, and this will have serious implications towards the use of these faecal indicator bacteria.

Item Type: Article
Funders: Ministry of Education, Malaysia IOES-2014D, Universiti Malaya TU001B-2018, National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) 41961144022
Uncontrolled Keywords: Enterococcus faecium; Escherichia coli; Grazing loss rates; Decay rates; Persistence
Subjects: Q Science > QR Microbiology
Divisions: Faculty of Science > Institute of Biological Sciences
Depositing User: Ms. Juhaida Abd Rahim
Date Deposited: 15 Oct 2023 13:57
Last Modified: 15 Oct 2023 13:57
URI: http://eprints.um.edu.my/id/eprint/40767

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