Skip to main content
ARS Home » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #160833
Title: IDENTIFICATION OF BACTERIAL POPULATIONS IN AGRICULTURAL WASTE WATER USING 16S RDNA SEQUENCES AND OTHER GENETIC MARKERS.

Author
item McGarvey, Jeffery - Jeff
item Stanker, Larry
item Ravva, Subbarao
item Miller, William - Bill
item SANCHEZ, SUSAN - UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA

Submitted to: American Society for Microbiology Meeting
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/29/2004
Publication Date: 1/29/2004
Citation: Mcgarvey, J.A., Stanker, L.H., Ravva, S.V., Miller, W.G., Sanchez, S. 2004. Identification of bacterial populations in agricultural waste water using 16s rdna sequences and other genetic markers [Abstract]. American Society for Microbiology Meeting. Poster Q030.

Interpretive Summary: Dairy farms produce large volumes of manure which must be managed properly to ensure animal and well as human health. On modern dairies the cows spend a majority of their time in free stalls where they defecate and urinate on cement floors. The waste is removed by hydraulic flush systems that pump large quantities of water across the floors that carry the waste into separator pits where the solids and the liquids are segregated. The solids are used as soil amendment or animal bedding material while the liquids are pumped into holding lagoons. The lagoons can be mixed by mechanical mixers or simply allowed to sit. The water from the lagoons is reused to flush the cement floors and thus reenters the system. Because cow manure is known to harbor several disease causing bacteria such as Salmonella and E. coli it is possible that these holding lagoons concentrate them. To determine what type of bacteria inhabit these systems we used genetic methods to determine what types of bacteria live in these waters. We identified over 1,500 bacteria from these systems and found only a few disease causing bacteria.

Technical Abstract: Dairy farms produce large volumes of manure which must be managed properly to ensure animal as well as human health. On modern dairies cows spend a majority of their time in free stalls where they defecate and urinate on cement floors. The waste is removed by hydraulic flush systems that pump large quantities of water across the floors that carry the waste into separator pits where the solids and the liquids are segregated. The solids are used as soil amendment or animal bedding material while the liquids are pumped into holding lagoons. The lagoons can be mixed by mechanical mixers or simply allowed to sit. The water from the lagoons is reused to flush the cement floors and thus reenters the system. Because cow manure is known to contain pathogenic bacteria, it is thought that these systems may be reservoirs for pathogens. To examine the bacterial populations in these waste water treatment systems we extracted DNA from manure, the separator pits and the holding lagoons, amplified the 16S rDNA sequences and cloned them into E. coli. In all 1,500 clones were examined, 500 from each location. The 16S rDNA clones were sequenced and BLAST analyzed against a data base containing over 34,000 sequences. We also used pathogen specific PCR analysis to determine if several common pathogens were present.