The role of land use and environmental factors on microbial pollution of mountainous limestone aquifers |
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Authors: | V Allocca F Celico E Petrella G Marzullo G Naclerio |
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Institution: | (1) Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università degli Studi di Napoli “Federico II”, Largo S. Marcellino 10, 80134 Naples, Italy;(2) Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie per l’Ambiente e il Territorio, Università degli Studi del Molise, Contrada Fonte Lappone, 86090 Pesche, IS, Italy |
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Abstract: | Limestone aquifers in Southern Italy are often affected by bacterial contamination produced by pasture and agriculture. The
main goals of this study were (1) to analyze the role of land use and environmental factors on microbial contamination and,
(2) to identify, at field scale, the most suitable indicator of fecal pollution, by comparing fecal coliforms and fecal enterococci.
Analyzing surface and spring water, it was noted that both fecal indicators showed a significant decrease during the period
characterized by freezing and/or freeze-thaw intervals. The data analysis shows that fecal coliforms are characterized by
a significant decrease in population (3 orders of magnitude, at least) during the freezing period, while fecal enterococci
are temporarily inhibited. A taxonomic classification of fecal enterococci detected in spring water samples was performed
by the API 20 Strep system and by sequencing of the ribosomal 16S DNA genes. The results showed that freezing conditions did
not cause any significant change on the set of enterococcal species. |
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Keywords: | Limestone aquifer Microbial pollution Enterococcal species identification Mountainous environment Italy Campania Monte Terminio |
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