Changes in microbial community structure in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita

Hurricanes have the potential to alter the structures of coastal ecosystems and generate pathogen-laden floodwaters that threaten public health. To examine the impact of hurricanes on urban systems, we compared microbial community structures in samples collected after Hurricane Katrina and before an...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Environmental science & technology Vol. 42; no. 24; pp. 9072 - 9078
Main Authors:	Amaral-Zettler, Linda A, Rocca, Jennifer D, Lamontagne, Michael G, Dennett, Mark R, Gast, Rebecca J
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Washington, DC American Chemical Society 15-12-2008
Subjects:	Applied sciences Aquatic ecosystems Archaea Bacteria - classification Biodiversity Characterization of Natural and Affected Environments Cyclonic Storms Deoxyribonucleic acid Disasters DNA Environmental Microbiology Eukaryotic Cells - metabolism Exact sciences and technology Floods Fresh Water Genes Geography Hurricanes Lakes Louisiana Molecular Sequence Data Pollution Public health Ribonucleic acid RNA Sewage Time Factors Louisiana New Orleans Louisiana Lake Charles Lake Pontchartrain United States > US USA, Louisiana, New Orleans ASW, USA, Louisiana, Pontchartrain L USA, Louisiana, Charles L Community structure Microbiology Urban area Sediments Indicator Coastal zone Waste water Health and environment Ecosystem Pathogenic Water quality Street Biological contamination Microbial community Public health
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Summary:	Hurricanes have the potential to alter the structures of coastal ecosystems and generate pathogen-laden floodwaters that threaten public health. To examine the impact of hurricanes on urban systems, we compared microbial community structures in samples collected after Hurricane Katrina and before and after Hurricane Rita. We extracted environmental DNA and sequenced small-subunit rRNA (SSU rRNA) gene clone libraries to survey microbial communities in floodwater, water, and sediment samples collected from Lake Charles, Lake Pontchartrain, the 17th Street and Industrial Canals in New Orleans, and raw sewage. Correspondence analysis showed that microbial communities associated with sediments formed one cluster while communities associated with lake and Industrial Canal water formed a second. Communities associated with water from the 17th Street Canal and floodwaters collected in New Orleans showed similarity to communities in raw sewage and contained a number of sequences associated with possible pathogenic microbes. This suggests that a distinct microbial community developed in floodwaters following Hurricane Katrina and that microbial community structures as a whole might be sensitive indicators of ecosystem health and serve as “sentinels” of water quality in the environment.
Bibliography:	istex:76CA83D9052D4BB93FFDFBAF70124A3094ECCFE8 Table S1 provides sample codes, clone library information, species richness and Simpson diversity indices. Table S2 provides pairwise percent OTU overlap between samples in the upper portion of the triangular matrix and Theta-YC community structure similarity values in the lower triangle. Figure S1 provides a list of 69 potentially pathogenic OTUs and their associated taxonomy. Figure S2 presents comprehensive pie charts showing a comparative bacterial taxonomic summary of the sequences in all 28 samplesclicking on the names allows one to view a taxonomic breakdown of the sequences down to genus when possible or some higher taxonomic level. Asterisks indicate taxonomic levels shared with the raw sewage sample. Figure S3 shows the placement of eukaryotic sequences within an ARB tree while Figure S4 shows the placement of archaeal sequences. Figure S5 shows pie charts indicating changes in relative abundances of bacterial phyla and classes of Proteobacteria over time at transect stations near-shore and offshore. Figure S6 is a NMDS 3-dimensional ordination of 28 samples based on standardization by total and Log(X + 1) transformed OTU abundances and Bray−Curtis similarities. Refer to Table for sample codes. This material is available free of charge via the Internet at http://pubs.acs.org. ark:/67375/TPS-8XF1RFVF-W ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 Current Address: The Section of Integrative Biology, The University of Texas at Austin, 1 University Station C0930, Austin TX 78712 Current Address: US Genomics, 12 Gill Street, Suite 4700, Woburn, MA 01801
ISSN:	0013-936X 1520-5851
DOI:	10.1021/es801904z