An environmental survey of surface waters using mitochondrial DNA from human, bovine and porcine origin as fecal source tracking markers.

Fecal contamination of surface waters is one the major sources of waterborne pathogens and consequently, is an important concern for public health. For reliable fecal source tracking (FST) monitoring, there is a need for a multi-marker toolbox as no single all-encompassing method currently exists. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) as a source tracking marker has emerged as a promising animal-specific marker.

Universal mitochondrial PCR combined with species-specific dot-blot assay as a source-tracking method of human, bovine, chicken, ovine, and porcine in fecal-contaminated surface water.

Mitochondrial (mt) DNA has the potential to be used as an animal-specific genetic marker for source-tracking of fecal contamination in surface waters and groundwaters. In this report, we describe the development of a method to detect in a single assay human, bovine, ovine, porcine and chicken mitochondrial (mt) DNA in water. Consensus nucleic sequences were found between human, bovine, porcine, ovine and chicken mtDNA to design three sets of PCR universal primers.