Monitoring the water through molecular techniques

Abstract

This research proposes the establishment of new methodologies based on the genome of microorganisms to control quality water. Monitoring of quality of water is mainly carried out through biochemical techniques with a consuming-time cost. The development of molecular techniques and specific probes to determine microorganisms has allowed a breakthrough in the validation of water quality not only for the technique sensitivity but also for its precision. In this work two attempts were carried out i) Design of specific molecular probes to identify FIB (Fecal Indicator Bacteria) in seawater and sewage; ii) Molecular characterization of structure of the bacterial communities from a wetland of bioremediation. The specific probes were designed based on the 16S rRNA of main bacterial groups, included in the current legislation: Escherichia coli, Enterococcus intestinalis, Salmonella spp. and Legionella spp. The genus Shigella spp. and Citrobacter spp. were also determined by their correlation with health conditions. The amplification of fragments was carried out by conventional PCR. The specific sequences obtained were phylogenetically analysed and were used to finetuning the fingerprint method T-RFLP. This method has been employed to determine the effectiveness of diverse wastewater treatments from wetland bioremediation of Tafira University Campus (ULPGGC). We conclude that the results represent an advance in the assessment of water quality of coastal environments as our islands, being the basis for future work on the optimization of the time-cost of early diagnosis and also to determine the effectiveness of natural treatment of wastewater and the reused water quality from wetland bioremediation.