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Characterising contaminants distribution in marine-coastal sediments through multivariate and nonparametric statistical analyses: a complementary strategy supporting environmental monitoring and control.

ABSTRACT: This work investigates a statistical approach analysing data from monitoring activities on marine-coastal areas for environmental quality determination and surveillance. Analyses were performed on a database of the Environmental Protection and Prevention Agency of the Puglia Region. As, Cr, Ni, and Pb concentration values in marine sediments and biota from 2013 to 2015 and 2017 were processed to investigate different contaminant characteristics. Hierarchical cluster analysis identified three contaminant distribution classes with (1) highest Cr, Ni, and Pb concentrations, (2) highest As concentration, and (3) lowest contaminants concentration. The Kruskal-Wallis and Friedman tests showed that contaminant distributions were statistically different when considering the monitoring years and classes. However, statistical similarities resulted during the 2013-2017 and 2014-2015 periods. Spearman's coefficients displayed positive correlations among the pollutants in each matrix and mainly negative correlations for matrices comparison. This methodology aims to provide a practical support for monitoring to identify potential environmental deterioration over time and correlations with specific contamination sources.

SUBMITTER: Ferraro A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9633496 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Characterising contaminants distribution in marine-coastal sediments through multivariate and nonparametric statistical analyses: a complementary strategy supporting environmental monitoring and control.

Ferraro Alberto A Parisi Alessandro A Barbone Enrico E Race Marco M Mali Matilda M Spasiano Danilo D Fratino Umberto U

Environmental monitoring and assessment 20221103 1

This work investigates a statistical approach analysing data from monitoring activities on marine-coastal areas for environmental quality determination and surveillance. Analyses were performed on a database of the Environmental Protection and Prevention Agency of the Puglia Region. As, Cr, Ni, and Pb concentration values in marine sediments and biota from 2013 to 2015 and 2017 were processed to investigate different contaminant characteristics. Hierarchical cluster analysis identified three con ...[more]

PMID: 36326927

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Project description:Despite the recognized potential of long-term survival or even growth of fecal indicators bacteria (FIB) in marine sediments, this compartment is largely ignored by health protection authorities. We conducted a large-scale study over approximately 50 km of the Marche coasts (Adriatic Sea) at depths ranging from 2 to 5 m. Total and fecal coliforms (FC) were counted by culture-based methods. Escherichia coli was also quantified using fluorescence in situ hybridization targeting specific 16S rRNA sequences, which yielded significantly higher abundances than culture-based methods, suggesting the potential importance of viable but nonculturable E. coli cells. Fecal coliforms displayed high abundances at most sites and showed a prevalence of E. coli. FC isolates (n = 113) were identified by API 20E, additional biochemical tests, and internal transcribed spacer-PCR. E. coli strains, representing 96% of isolates, were then characterized for genomic relatedness and phylogenetic group (A, B1, B2, and D) of origin by randomly amplified polymorphic DNA and multiplex-PCR. The results indicated that E. coli displayed a wide genotypic diversity, also among isolates from the same station, and that 44 of the 109 E. coli isolates belonged to groups B2 and D. Further characterization of B2 and D isolates for the presence of 11 virulence factor genes (pap, sfa/foc, afa, eaeA, ibeA, traT, hlyA, stx(1), stx(2), aer, and fyuA) showed that 90% of B2 and 65% of D isolates were positive for at least one of these. Most of the variance of both E. coli abundance and assemblage composition (>62%) was explained by a combination of physical-chemical and trophic variables. These findings indicate that coastal sediments could represent a potential reservoir for commensal and pathogenic E. coli and that E. coli distribution in marine coastal sediments largely depends upon the physical and trophic status of the sediment. We conclude that future sampling designs aimed at monitoring the microbiological quality of marine coastal areas should not further neglect the analysis of the sediment and that monitoring of these environments can be improved by including molecular methods as a complement of culture-based techniques.

Project description:BackgroundPolycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), widespread pollutants in the marine environment, can produce adverse effects in marine organisms and can be transferred to humans through seafood. Our knowledge of PAH-degrading bacterial populations in the marine environment is still very limited, and mainly originates from studies of cultured bacteria. In this work, genes coding catabolic enzymes from PAH-biodegradation pathways were characterized in coastal sediments of Patagonia with different levels of PAH contamination.ResultsGenes encoding for the catalytic alpha subunit of aromatic ring-hydroxylating dioxygenases (ARHDs) were amplified from intertidal sediment samples using two different primer sets. Products were cloned and screened by restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis. Clones representing each restriction pattern were selected in each library for sequencing. A total of 500 clones were screened in 9 gene libraries, and 193 clones were sequenced. Libraries contained one to five different ARHD gene types, and this number was correlated with the number of PAHs found in the samples above the quantification limit (r = 0.834, p < 0.05). Overall, eight different ARHD gene types were detected in the sediments. In five of them, their deduced amino acid sequences formed deeply rooted branches with previously described ARHD peptide sequences, exhibiting less than 70% identity to them. They contain consensus sequences of the Rieske type [2Fe-2S] cluster binding site, suggesting that these gene fragments encode for ARHDs. On the other hand, three gene types were closely related to previously described ARHDs: archetypical nahAc-like genes, phnAc-like genes as identified in Alcaligenes faecalis AFK2, and phnA1-like genes from marine PAH-degraders from the genus Cycloclasticus.ConclusionThese results show the presence of hitherto unidentified ARHD genes in this sub-Antarctic marine environment exposed to anthropogenic contamination. This information can be used to study the geographical distribution and ecological significance of bacterial populations carrying these genes, and to design molecular assays to monitor the progress and effectiveness of remediation technologies.

Dataset Information

Characterising contaminants distribution in marine-coastal sediments through multivariate and nonparametric statistical analyses: a complementary strategy supporting environmental monitoring and control.

Publications

Characterising contaminants distribution in marine-coastal sediments through multivariate and nonparametric statistical analyses: a complementary strategy supporting environmental monitoring and control.

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