Spatial, Temporal, and Matrix Variability of Clostridium botulinum Type E Toxin Gene Distribution at Great Lakes Beaches

Abstract

c Clostridium botulinum type E toxin is responsible for extensive mortality of birds and fish in the Great Lakes. The C. botulinum bontE gene that produces the type E toxin was amplified with quantitative PCR from 150 sloughed algal samples (primarily Cladophora species) collected during summer 2012 from 10 Great Lakes beaches in five states; concurrently, 74 sediment and 37 water samples from four sites were also analyzed. The bontE gene concentration in algae was significantly higher than in water and sediment (P < 0.05), suggesting that algal mats provide a better microenvironment for C. botulinum. The bontE gene was detected most frequently in algae at Jeorse Park and Portage Lake Front beaches (Lake Michigan) and Bay City State Recreation Area beach on Saginaw Bay (Lake Huron), where 77, 100, and 83% of these algal samples contained the bontE gene, respectively. The highest concentration of bontE was detected at Bay City (1.98 ؋ 10 5 gene copies/ml of algae or 5.21 ؋ 10 6 g [dry weight]). This study revealed that the bontE gene is abundant in the Great Lakes but that it has spatial, temporal, and matrix variability. Further, embayed beaches, low wave height, low wind velocity, and greater average water temperature enhance the bontE occurrence.

Fish Originated Bacterial Zoonoses

“…Bununla birlikte son yıllarda Güneydoğu Amerika'da kanal yayın balıklarında (Ictalurus punctatus) saptanan bir hastalık vakası viseral toksikozis olarak rapor edilmiştir [26]. Yapılan çalışmalar C. botulinum'un balıkların bağırsaklarında, yüzeylerinde, balık çiftliklerindeki sedimentlerde, balık ürünlerinde ve alglerde bulunabildiğini göstermektedir [55] 3.3. Erysipelothrix spp.…”

Pseudomonas Diversity Within Urban Freshwaters

“…This concern is perhaps most evident within Chicago, whose city and surrounding suburbs sprawl along the Lake Michigan shoreline. Lake Michigan waters are routinely monitored (Whitman and Nevers, 2008; Wong et al, 2009; Haack et al, 2013; Oster et al, 2014; Wijesinghe et al, 2015), and the incidence of illness attributed to these waters has been extensively studied (Dorevitch et al, 2011; DeFlorio-Barker et al, 2018). Aside from prompt and thorough testing, contamination via stormwater and fecal pollution has been a consistent concern for all cities along the Lake Michigan shore (Bower et al, 2005; Whitman and Nevers, 2008; Wong et al, 2009; Fisher et al, 2015; Templar et al, 2016).…”

Environmental conditions synchronize waterbird mortality events in the Great Lakes

“…Recently, studies have found that mats of the macrophytic, green alga Cladophora , whose growth in lakes is promoted by increased sunlight penetration due to water filtration by invasive mussels, provides an ideal microenvironment for C. botulinum that is warm, hypoxic and rich in organic material (e.g. Chun et al., ; Wijesinghe et al., ). Increased BoNT/E production in algal mats, coupled with integration of the toxin into the food web by birds feeding on invertebrates or on fish that previously fed on invertebrates in algal mats (Essian et al., ), could increase the risk of waterbird mortality from avian botulism.…”

“…Ingested BoNT/E can cause loss of muscle control through inhibition of neurotransmitter release in susceptible species (Rocke & Bollinger, 2007). Clostridium botulinum type E is considered ubiquitous in the environment, but the organism and the harmful toxin that it creates demonstrate a high degree of variability over space and time (Hannett, Stone, Davis, & Wroblewski, 2011;Pérez-Fuentetaja et al, 2006;Wijesinghe et al, 2015). Although the trophic linkages associated with avian botulism die-offs remain a subject of debate, the C. botulinum bacteria and its associated toxin (BoNT/E) are hypothesized to be transmitted up the food chain through various diet items available to waterbirds (Essian, Chipault, Lafrancois, & Leonard, 2016;Poulin, Paterson, Townsend, Tompkins, & Kelly, 2011).…”

“…Recently, studies have found that mats of the macrophytic, green alga Cladophora, whose growth in lakes is promoted by increased sunlight penetration due to water filtration by invasive mussels, provides an ideal microenvironment for C. botulinum that is warm, hypoxic and rich in organic material (e.g. Chun et al, 2013;Wijesinghe et al, 2015). Increased…”