Evidence map›Paper›PMID 26575481›Full record

ArticlePloS one2015

A Comparison of Microbial Water Quality and Diversity for Ballast and Tropical Harbor Waters.

Charmaine Ng, Thai-Hoang Le, Shin Giek Goh, Liang Liang, Yiseul Kim, Joan B Rose, Karina Gin Yew-Hoong

Erratum issuedOpen access · goldAbstract readComparative Study
In one paragraph

Article in PloS one, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 14 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
14citing papers in PubMed
4.7field-weighted citation impact, top 5% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

14 citing papers in PubMed, 60 citations in OpenAlex.

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  4. Habitat Conditions of the Microbiota in Ballast Water of Ships Entering the Oder Estuary.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Charmaine NgNational University of Singapore, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Singapore, Singapore.
Thai-Hoang LeNational University of Singapore, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Singapore, Singapore.
Shin Giek GohNational University of Singapore, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Singapore, Singapore.
Liang LiangNational University of Singapore, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Singapore, Singapore.
Yiseul KimMichigan State University, Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, East Lansing, Michigan, United States of America.
Joan B RoseMichigan State University, Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, East Lansing, Michigan, United States of America.
Karina Gin Yew-HoongNational University of Singapore, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Singapore, Singapore.
National University of Singapore · SGMichigan State University · USMichigan United · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Indicator organisms and antibiotic resistance were used as a proxy to measure microbial water quality of ballast tanks of ships, and surface waters in a tropical harbor. The survival of marine bacteria in ballast tanks appeared to diminish over longer water retention time, with a reduction of cell viability observed after a week based on heterotrophic plate counts. Pyrosequencing of 16S rRNA genes showed distinct differences in microbial composition of ballast and harbor waters. The harbor waters had a higher abundance of operational taxonomic units (OTUs) assigned to Cyanobacteria (Synechococcus spp.) and α-proteobacteria (SAR11 members), while marine hydrocarbon degraders such as γ-proteobacteria (Ocenspirillaes spp., Thiotrchales spp.) and Bacteroidetes (Flavobacteriales spp.) dominated the ballast water samples. Screening of indicator organisms found Escherichia coli (E. coli), Enterococcus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) in two or more of the ballast and harbor water samples tested. Vibrio spp. and Salmonella spp. were detected exclusively in harbor water samples. Using quantitative PCR (qPCR), we screened for 13 antibiotic resistant gene (ARG) targets and found higher abundances of sul1 (4.13-3.44 x 102 copies/mL), dfrA (0.77-1.80 x10 copies/mL) and cfr (2.00-5.21 copies/mL) genes compared to the other ARG targets selected for this survey. These genes encode for resistance to sulfonamides, trimethoprim and chloramphenicol-florfenicol antibiotics, which are also known to persist in sediments of aquaculture farms and coastal environments. Among the ARGs screened, we found significant correlations (P<0.05) between ereA, ermG, cfr and tetO genes to one or more of the indicator organisms detected in this study, which may suggest that these members contribute to the environmental resistome. This study provides a baseline water quality survey, quantitatively assessing indicators of antibiotic resistance, potentially pathogenic organisms and a broad-brush description of difference in microbial composition and diversity between open oceans and tropical coastal environments through the use of next generation sequencing technology.

Indexed as

Water QualityAnti-Bacterial AgentsBacteriaBacterial ProteinsChloramphenicolCluster AnalysisDrug Resistance, MicrobialEnterococcusEscherichia coliHigh-Throughput Nucleotide SequencingPrincipal Component AnalysisReal-Time Polymerase Chain ReactionRNA, Ribosomal, 16SSalmonellaSeawaterSequence Analysis, DNAAnti-Bacterial AgentsBacterial ProteinsChloramphenicolRNA, Ribosomal, 16SSulfonamidesTrimethoprim

Identifiers

PMID26575481
PMCPMC4648578
OpenAlexW2173391794

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.