Genotyping and phylogenetic analysis of free-living amoeba (Acanthamoeba and Naegleria) in treated and untreated water in the northeastern provinces of Iran

Abstract Free-living amoebae (FLA) are widely distributed protozoa in natural or man-made aquatic environments without the need for a host organism for survival. Several strains of FLA are known to be pathogenic. As of date, there is inadequate data on the geographical distribution of FLA in northeastern and northern Iran. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence and genotype distribution of Acanthamoeba and Naegleria in drinking water and surface water samples in northern and northeastern Iran. A total of 60 water samples were collected and filtered from various sources for the presence of amoebae. DNA extraction was performed, and PCR confirmed the presence of FLA. PCR products were sequenced to identify the species/genotype. Phylogenetic relationships and taxonomic status constructed using MEGA X software. The findings on growth media showed 35% (21/60) and 26% (16/60) were positive for Acanthamoeba and Naegleria, respectively, while PCR analysis also obtained similar results. All isolates of Acanthamoeba were identified as T4 genotype. Poor water quality, as well as insufficient preservation and treatment, might indicate that chlorine disinfection is ineffective in removing contamination of amoebas in treated water samples. Therefore, regular water quality monitoring is essential to control amoeba's growth, reducing the risk of human infections with FLA.

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Pesticide Contamination of Groundwater in Virginia: BMP Impact Assessment

Water Science & Technology ◽

10.2166/wst.1993.0440 ◽

1993 ◽

Vol 28 (3-5) ◽

pp. 379-387 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

S. Mostaghimi ◽

P. W. McClellan ◽

R. A. Cooke

Keyword(s):

Water Quality ◽

Land Use ◽

Best Management Practices ◽

Water Samples ◽

Management Practices ◽

Water Quality Monitoring ◽

Pesticide Contamination ◽

Cropping Patterns ◽

Creek Watershed ◽

Surface And Groundwater

The Nomini Creek Watershed/Water Quality monitoring project was initiated in 1985, as part of the Chesapeake Bay Agreement of 1983, to quantify the impacts of agricultural best management practices (BMPs) on improving water quality. The watershed monitoring system was designed to provide a comprehensive assessment of the quality of surface and groundwater as influenced by changes in land use, agronomic, and cultural practices in the watershed over the duration of the project. The primary chemical characteristics monitored include both soluble and sediment-bound nutrients and pesticides in surface and groundwater. Water samples from 8 monitoring wells located in agricultural areas in the watershed were analyzed for 22 pesticides. A total of 20 pesticides have been detected in water samples collected. Atrazine is the most frequently detected pesticide. Detected concentrations of atrazine ranged from 0.03 - 25.56 ppb and occurred in about 26 percent of the samples. Other pesticides were detected at frequencies ranging from 1.6 to 14.2 percent of all samples collected and concentrations between 0.01 and 41.89 ppb. The observed concentrations and spatial distributions of pesticide contamination of groundwater are compared to land use and cropping patterns. Results indicate that BMPs are quite effective in reducing pesticide concentrations in groundwater.

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Developing an environmental water quality monitoring program for Haraz River in Northern Iran

Environmental Monitoring and Assessment ◽

10.1007/s10661-017-6125-x ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 189 (8) ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Mitra Tavakol ◽

Reza Arjmandi ◽

Mansoureh Shayeghi ◽

Seyed Masoud Monavari ◽

Abdolreza Karbassi

Keyword(s):

Water Quality ◽

Monitoring Program ◽

Water Quality Monitoring ◽

Environmental Water ◽

Quality Monitoring ◽

Northern Iran ◽

Haraz River

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Molecular Identification of Free-Living Amoebae (Naegleria spp., Acanthamoeba spp. and Vermamoeba spp.) Isolated from Unim-proved Hot Springs, Guilan Province, Northern Iran

Iranian Journal of Parasitology ◽

10.18502/ijpa.v14i4.2100 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Mohammad Hossein FEIZ HADDAD ◽

Saeed KHOSHNOOD ◽

Mohammad Reza MAHMOUDI ◽

Habib HABIBPOUR ◽

Selman A. ALI ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Water Samples ◽

Hot Springs ◽

Hot Spring ◽

Acanthamoeba Castellanii ◽

Pcr Amplification ◽

Free Living ◽

Northern Iran ◽

Environmental Distribution ◽

Genotype 4 ◽

Guilan Province

Background: This study was conducted to determine the presence and molecular identify of Acanthamoeba, Naegleria and Vermamoeba in unimproved hot springs. Methods: From Jul to Aug 2017, 54 water samples were collected from hot springs in different parts of the Guilan Province, North Iran. For the isolation of Acanthamoeba, Naegleria and Vermamoeba approximately 500 ml of the water samples were filtered through a cellulose nitrate membrane with a pore size of 0.45 μm. The filter was transferred onto non-nutrient agar plates seeded with Gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli) as a food source. The morphological key of page was used to identify free‐living amoebae (FLA) using an inverted microscope, PCR amplification targeting specific genes for each genus and sequencing determined frequent species and genotypes base on NCBI database. Results: Fifteen of the 54 samples were positive by culture and/or PCR for Acanthamoeba and other FLA from unimproved hot springs. By sequencing the positive isolates, the strains were shown to belong to Acanthamoeba castellanii (12 case isolates belonged to T4 genotype), 4 cases of V. vermiformis, and 3 cases of N. australiensis, 2 cases of N. pagei and 1 cases of N. gruberi. Conclusion: Although FLA-mediated illnesses are not as high as in environmental distribution, but because of a poor prognosis, more investigations about FLA distribution in hot springs is critical. Hot spring may enhance exposure of the amoebae in individuals. Hence, more attention to unimproved hot springs is needed to prevent free-living amoebae mediated diseases.

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A Novel PCR Method for Identifying Plankton in Cases of Death by Drowning

Medicine Science and the Law ◽

10.1258/rsmmsl.43.1.23 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 43 (1) ◽

pp. 23-30 ◽

Cited By ~ 21

Author(s):

Sumiko Abe ◽

Miwako Suto ◽

Hidemasa Nakamura ◽

Hirobumi Gunji ◽

Kouichi Hiraiwa ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Euglena Gracilis ◽

Water Samples ◽

Human Tissue ◽

Skeletonema Costatum ◽

Pcr Analysis ◽

Blood Samples ◽

Human Dna ◽

Pcr Products ◽

Pcr Method ◽

Death By Drowning

We present a new PCR method for identifying plankton in cases of death by drowning. We designed four primer pairs for chlorophyll-related genes of Euglena gracilis (EG) and Skeletonema costatum (SK), which are commonly distributed in water. The primers were selected from sequences coding chloroplast/chlorophyll apoprotein of EG (EG1 and EG2) and fucoxanthin-chlorophyll a/c harvesting protein of SK (SK1 and SK2). With EG1 or EG2, up to 2 fg of EG-DNA was identified, and 0.2 pg of SK-DNA was detectable with SK1 or SK2. No PCR products were amplified from green vegetables (komatsuna, spinach, parsley) or human DNA with the four primer pairs. Regardless of the origin, seawater or fresh water, most diatoms were detectable with primer pairs of EG1 and EG2. With SK1, only Centrales diatoms were identified, and five diatom strains originating from seawater were detectable with SK2. EG1 and EG2 gave rise to PCR products from most water samples. By using Percoll®, plankton was easily isolated from human tissue or blood samples and good results of PCR analysis were obtained in cases of death by drowning.

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Effects of floods on macroinvertebrate communities in the Zarin Gol River of northern Iran: implications for water quality monitoring and biological assessment

Ecological Processes ◽

10.1186/s13717-021-00318-0 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Mohammad Gholizadeh

Keyword(s):

Water Quality ◽

Water Quality Assessment ◽

Biological Indicators ◽

Water Quality Monitoring ◽

Biological Assessment ◽

Macroinvertebrate Communities ◽

Northern Iran ◽

Quick Recovery ◽

Mountainous Regions ◽

Extreme Flooding

Abstract Background The timing, magnitude, and duration of extreme hydrological disasters have the potential to threaten the species diversity and river habitats. On August 8, 2014, and August 19, 2017, disastrous floods struck mountainous regions of Iran’s Zarin Gol River basin. Macroinvertebrate communities were studied at seven upstreams prior to the floods in June 2014 and 2017 and after the floods in September 2014 and 2017 and 9 months after the second flood in June 2018. The effects of floods on macroinvertebrate communities, recovery rate of macroinvertebrate community resilience and influencing factors were investigated. Results Despite the fact that extreme floods were the only reason of the disruption, the effects of biological water quality assessment metrics after the disaster were comparable to those of heavily polluted waters. Biological indicators revealed that the communities were unaffected prior to the floods, and the water quality remained within acceptable limits. Following the disasters, the density of macroinvertebrates declined, and biological indicators demonstrated the severe depletion of water quality. Community indicators (species richness, percent model affinity (PMA), and Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera (EPT) richness) rebounded after 9 months (June 2018), demonstrating that Zarin Gol River’s macroinvertebrate communities could recover even after the severe impact of the floods. As a result, macroinvertebrate samples taken from flood-affected areas revealed that extreme flooding, rather than a decrease in water quality, causes a loss of diversity and abundance. Conclusion Because of shifts in hydrological regimes in streams around the world, understanding the short-term impacts of strong flooding and the comparatively quick recovery of macroinvertebrate ecosystems has important consequences for bio-assessment programs after severe floods.

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Raspberry Pi-based smart sensing platform for drinking-water quality monitoring system: a Python framework approach

Drinking Water Engineering and Science ◽

10.5194/dwes-12-31-2019 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

pp. 31-37 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Punit Khatri ◽

Karunesh Kumar Gupta ◽

Raj Kumar Gupta

Keyword(s):

Water Quality ◽

Drinking Water ◽

Water Samples ◽

Water Quality Monitoring ◽

Quality Parameters ◽

Drinking Water Quality ◽

Quality Monitoring ◽

Raspberry Pi ◽

Sensing Platform ◽

Development Data

Abstract. This paper proposes the development of a Raspberry Pi-based hardware platform for drinking-water quality monitoring. The selection of water quality parameters was made based on guidelines of the Central Pollution and Control Board (CPCB), New Delhi, India. A graphical user interface (GUI) was developed for providing an interactive human machine interface to the end user for ease of operation. The Python programming language was used for GUI development, data acquisition, and data analysis. Fuzzy computing techniques were employed for decision-making to categorize the water quality in different classes like “bad”, “poor”, “satisfactory”, “good”, and “excellent”. The system has been tested for various water samples from eight different locations, and the water quality was observed as being good, satisfactory, and poor for the measured water samples. Finally, the obtained results were compared with the benchmark for authentication.

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Detection of Diarrheagenic Pathogens in Improved Water Using PCR-Based Specific Techniques in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Protocol

10.21203/rs.3.rs-55533/v1 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Shibabaw Tadesse Gemeda ◽

Negasa Eshete Soboksa ◽

Adey Feleke Desta ◽

Sirak Robele Gari

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Water Quality ◽

Drinking Water ◽

Water Samples ◽

Water Quality Monitoring ◽

Quality Monitoring ◽

Pathogenic Microorganisms ◽

Middle Income ◽

Middle Income Countries ◽

Low And Middle Income

Abstract Background: Effective application of Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) based methods in detecting pathogenic microorganisms in improved water samples were limited in low- and middle-income countries. This limitation initiated this systematic review to assess the effective characterization method that could be applied in low- and middle-income countries. Therefore, the aim of this review and analysis is to pullout the available evidences in characterization of pathogenic microorganisms in improved drinking water that could be effectively applied in low- and middle-income countries. Methods: We will search for published literatures using Google Scholar, PubMed or Medline, Scopus and Cochrane Library databases to explore the various PCR based methods recommended for the detection and enumeration of pathogens to examine quality of drinking water provided for communities. All studies conducted in low- and middle-income countries that use any types of PCR methods in water samples without publication date restriction were included in the review. The primary outcome of this study is assessing the magnitude of diarrheagenic pathogens detected in improved water supplies by PCR application in low- and middle-income countries. Critical appraisal will be conducted on all papers selected for inclusion in the review. The studies selected will be assessed by the reviewers for retrieval prior to inclusion in the review. Discussion: This review will systematically discover and integrate the evidence available on the detection of diarrheagenic pathogens through the application of PCR based methods for water quality determination. This facilitates water quality monitoring activities. In this review, information about the applied PCR method, detected diarrheagenic pathogens, water sample size, effectiveness in terms of time and cost, will be gathered and summarized. The findings from this review and analysis will provide compiled data on the magnitude of the detected diarrheagenic pathogenic microbes by type and amount in improved water supply through the application of PCR techniques in low- and middle-income countries. It is envisaged that the study will promote the application of PCR methods for drinking water quality monitoring in these low- and middle-income countries.

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Detection and Molecular Characterization of Potentially Pathogenic Free-Living Amoebae from Recreational and Public Soils in Mazandaran, Northern Iran

Iranian Journal of Parasitology ◽

10.18502/ijpa.v16i2.6316 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Asal Tanzifi ◽

Yousef Moghaddam ◽

Samira Dodangeh ◽

Ahmad Daryani ◽

Shahabeddin Sarvi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

18S Rrna ◽

Taxonomic Status ◽

Soil Samples ◽

Rrna Gene ◽

Its Sequencing ◽

Sequencing Data ◽

Mazandaran Province ◽

Free Living ◽

Northern Iran ◽

Public Places

Background: Free-living amoeba (FLA) belonging to Acanthamoeba spp., Naegleria, and Balamuthia mandrillaris are the soil-born protozoa. This study aimed to survey the occurrence of FLA, including Acanthamoeba spp., B. mandrillaris, Vermamoeba spp., and Naegleria spp., in soil samples collected from various districts of Mazandaran Province (Northern Iran) from July to December 2018. Methods: Overall, 118 soil samples from the recreational and public places were surveyed for the existence of Acanthamoeba spp., Vermamoeba, Naegleria, and B. mandrillaris using both morphological key and molecular tools with genus-specific primers of JDP1, NA, ITS1, and Bal, respectively. To verify the taxonomic status of isolated amoeba, the phylogenetic tree was made based on sequences of 18S rRNA by MEGA (5.05) software with the maximum likelihood model. Results: Overall, 61/118 samples (51.6%) were contaminated with FLA, and based on the sequencing data, 29 isolates were successfully sequenced. Among the samples, all isolated Acanthamoeba (52.4%) belonged to the T4 genotype with amplification of the DF3 region (18S rRNA gene). Internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequencing revealed the presence of one strain of Naegleria americana. Twenty-eight V. vermiformis were also confirmed based on Nuclear SSU rDNA. Morphological survey and PCR assay did not show any positive samples for B. mandrillaris. Conclusion: The present study indicates the occurrence of FLA in soil sources of the recreational and public places in Mazandaran province that it can be a severe risk to human health. Thus, more studies are expected to survey the infection source in patients with FLA-related diseases.

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Multispectral Remote Sensing Utilization for Monitoring Chlorophyll-a Levels in Inland Water Bodies in Jordan

The Scientific World JOURNAL ◽

10.1155/2020/5060969 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 2020 ◽

pp. 1-14

Author(s):

Nidal M. Hussein ◽

Mohammed N. Assaf

Keyword(s):

Water Quality ◽

Water Samples ◽

Cost Effective ◽

Water Quality Monitoring ◽

Predictive Capability ◽

Inland Water ◽

Chl A ◽

Multispectral Satellite Images ◽

Inland Water Body ◽

Future Work

This study focuses on the utilization of multispectral satellite images for remote water-quality evaluation of inland water body in Jordan. The geophysical parameters based on water’s optical properties, due to the presence of optically active constituents, are used to determine contaminant level in water. It has a great potential to be employed for continuous and cost-effective water-quality monitoring and leads to a reliable regularly updated tool for better water sector management. Three sets of water samples were collected from three different dams in Jordan. Chl-a concentration of the water samples was measured and used with corresponding Sentinel 2 surface reflectance (SR) data to develop a predictive model. Chl-a concentrations and corresponding SR data were used to calibrate and validate different models. The predictive capability of each of the investigated models was determined in terms of determination coefficient (R2) and lowest root mean square error (RMSE) values. For the investigated sites, the B3/B2 (green/blue bands) model and the Ln (B3/B2) model showed the best overall predictive capability of all models with the highest R2 and the lowest RMSE values of (0.859, 0.824) and (30.756 mg/m3, 29.787 mg/m3), respectively. The outcome of this study on selected sites can be expanded for future work to cover more sites in the future and ultimately cover all sites in Jordan.

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Free-living microscopic organisms as indicators of changes in drinking-water quality

Water Practice & Technology ◽

10.2166/wpt.2012.050 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 7 (3) ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Judit Plutzer ◽

Andrea Törökné

Keyword(s):

Water Quality ◽

Drinking Water ◽

Water Samples ◽

Pathogenic Bacteria ◽

Disease Outbreaks ◽

Drinking Water Quality ◽

Indicator Organisms ◽

Free Living ◽

Water Storage Tank ◽

Drinking Water Samples

Bacterial indicator organisms (e.g., coliforms, E. coli) and some chemical parameters (e.g., turbidity, ammonia) are basic monitoring tools used to measure both changes in drinking-water quality and the presence of hard-to-detect pathogenic bacteria, viruses and protozoa. Microscopically detectable free-living organisms, such as some groups of bacteria, fungi, nematodes, rotifers and protozoa, are usable as additional indicators of fecal or environmental contamination of drinking water as well as any changes in the drinking-water quality. Our aim in this paper is to summarize the results of microscopic examination of 913 drinking-water samples from different water sources in Hungary in 2004 and 2005 and to demonstrate how these results can be used to maintain safe and good-tasting drinking-water quality. A total of 277 drinking-water samples failed Hungarian microscopic water quality standards as a result of helminths (58%), protozoa (41%), iron bacteria (16%), sulfur bacteria (13%), fungi (11%), algae (5%) and multiple biological contaminants (34%). Based on these results, pipe washing or water storage tank cleaning was deemed necessary. In addition, a number of disinfection or filtration failures were found. Two detailed case studies show the usefulness of monitoring microscopic parameters to avoid disease outbreaks. To our knowledge this is the first paper discussing drinking-water microscopy based on Hungarian experience and practice, which could be useful and informative for other countries.

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