Quantitative real-time PCR-based assessment of tile drainage management influences on bacterial pathogens in tile drainage and groundwater

摘要

This study compared the impact of controlled tile drainage (CD) and freely draining (FD) systems on the prevalence and quantitative real-time PCR-based enumeration of four major pathogens includingArcobacter butzleri,Campylobacter jejuni,Campylobacter coli, andHelicobacter pyloriin tile- and groundwater following a fall liquid swine manure (LSM) application on clay loam field plots. Although the prevalence of all target pathogens were detected in CD and FD systems, the loads ofA. butzleri,C. jejuni, andC. coliwere significantly lower in CD tile-water (p<0.05), in relation to FD tile-water. However, concentrations ofA. butzleriwere significantly greater in CD than FD tile-water (p<0.05). In shallow groundwater (1.2m depth), concentrations ofA. butzleri,C. coli, andH. pylorishowed no significant difference between CD and FD plots, whileC. jejuniconcentrations were significantly higher in FD plots (p<0.05). No impact of CD on theH. pyloriwas observed since quantitative detection in tile- and groundwater was scarce. Although speculative,H. pylorioccurrence may have been related to the application of municipal biosolids four years prior to the LSM experiment. Overall, CD can be used to help minimize off-field export of pathogens into surface waters following manure applications to land, thereby reducing waterborne pathogen exposure risks to humans.