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Researc~~~~~~~
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<br />WRS Professor's E.col fingerprinting methods close in on human sources
<br />One of the world's foremost experts on
<br />tracking the sources of E. coli, Michael
<br />Sadowsky may also be responsible for keep-
<br />ing the fun in our short-lived Minnesota
<br />summers.
<br />Through grants from the Water Resources
<br />Center, Minnesota Sea Grant, and the
<br />Minnesota Department of Agriculture,
<br />Sadowsky, a professor in the University of
<br />Minnesota's Department of Soil, Water,
<br />and Climate and the BioTechnology Insti-
<br />tute and member of the Water Resources
<br />Sciences (WRS) graduate faculty, has found
<br />a way to tease out stretches of marker DNA
<br />that indicate whether the bacteria taken
<br />from lakes or streams came from human or
<br />nonhuman sources.
<br />The distinction is important public
<br />beaches are routinely shut down when
<br />fecal bacteria counts are high. But bacte-
<br />rial counts from nonhuman sources don't
<br />necessarily merit the same response or
<br />treatment.
<br />"Current methodologies used by regulatory
<br />
<br />agencies only determine if fecal bacteria
<br />are contaminating waterways, not where
<br />the bacteria come from," says Sadowsky,
<br />recently named a fellow of the American
<br />Association for the Advancement of Sci-
<br />ence. "The assumption is that elevated fecal
<br />counts come from human sewage, and thus
<br />there is a health. risk. Our data and those of
<br />others have shown that there are many po-
<br />tential input sources of E. coli in waterways
<br />and that, in many instances, wild animals,
<br />soils, and even algae can contribute to
<br />elevated fecal counts."
<br />Sadowsky and his colleagues have created
<br />libraries of DNA fingerprints from E. coli
<br />obtained from 17 different animal hosts,
<br />ranging from beaver to human, and isolated
<br />marker genes unique to E. coh from differ-
<br />ent animal sources. With a completed li-
<br />brary, they aim to take E. coli samples found
<br />at beaches and match them to host-specific
<br />strains in the E. coii fingerprint library.
<br />They also developed a genome robot to
<br />sample bacterial colonies as part of a system
<br />that promises to provide municipalities a
<br />WRC Senior Fellow Larry Baker publishes book assessing urban
<br />water environments past and future
<br />Overflowing cesspools ~--- -
<br />spreading cholera and ty- ~ x,7
<br />phoid, the Cuyahoga River
<br />a
<br />polluted so badly that it liter-
<br />ally caught on fire-these
<br />are just two of the cata-
<br />strophic outcomes of early
<br />trial-by-error urban water
<br />systems chronicled in the
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<br />new book: Ehe Water Environ- -r~
<br />ment of Cities, edited by WRC ~
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<br />Senior Fellow Larry Baker.
<br />Baker closely coordinated IF -
<br />chapters with leading water ~ - cT,-
<br />experts around the U.S. to
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<br />develop a holistic vision of
<br />the urban water environ-
<br />ment. Core chapters address ~'
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<br />urban water budgets, w
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<br />groundwater management,
<br />urban water infrastructure, management
<br />of urban streams, the legal framework of
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<br />water management
<br />institutions, integra-
<br />tion of water into
<br />planning design, and.
<br />the economics of wa-
<br />ter supply. Although
<br />Baker designed the
<br />book to be accessible
<br />to a broad, multidis-
<br />ciplinary audience,
<br />topics were chosen
<br />for a core audience
<br />of engineers, city
<br />planners, ecologists,
<br />hydrologists, and
<br />social scientists. Each
<br />chapter considers
<br />six themes: water
<br />scarcity, multiple uses
<br />of water, water man-
<br />agement institutions, integration of new
<br />knowledge, sustainability and resilience.
<br />cost-effective, quantitative and accurate
<br />way to determine the sources of bacteria.
<br />in public waters-as well as a better way
<br />to assess health risks and design effective
<br />clean-up strategies.
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<br />Professor Michael Satlowsky's research looks for the
<br />sources of E. co/i in lakes and streams.
<br />The Earth's urban population is projected
<br />to reach five billion by 2030. The book as-
<br />serts that managing water for the burgeon-
<br />ing urban population will be critical to the
<br />well-being of the planet and of humanity.
<br />"Humans have altered the urban hydro-
<br />logical cycle and the chemical and physi-
<br />cal integrity of urban water systems and
<br />resources," says Baker. "Some of those
<br />changes are beneficial, and others are
<br />harmful. Understanding those changes and
<br />impacts requires expertise and perspective
<br />from a wide range of disciplines. I've sought
<br />out chapter authors who represent this
<br />broad diversity of expertise."
<br />Authors gathered at a synthesis workshop
<br />to write the final chapter: Blueprint for the
<br />Future of the Urban Water Em~ironment.
<br />The I'fater Environment of Cities is available at:
<br />www. springer. com
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