ArticleWater research2020
A novel droplet digital PCR human mtDNA assay for fecal source tracking.
Article in Water research, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers.
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Who cites it
21 citing papers in PubMed, 44 citations in OpenAlex.
- Advances of Digital Detection for Foodborne Pathogens.Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Environmental pathogen surveillance in cities without universal piped wastewater infrastructure.PLOS global public health · 2026Article
- Diverse enteric bacterial, viral, and parasitic pathogen genes are shed in animal feces in Indiana.PloS one · 2026Article
- Comparative Assessment of Wastewater-Based Surveillance Normalization Methods to Improve Pathogen Monitoring in Rural Sewersheds.Environmental science & technology · 2025Article
- Exploring the Pathogen Profiles of Ancient Feces.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Targeted pathogen profiling of ancient feces reveals common enteric infections in the Rio Zape Valley, 725-920 CE.PloS one · 2025Article
- Pilot Study of Fecal Mitochondrial DNA in Inflammatory Bowel Disease Patients Demonstrates a High Sensitivity Assay With Likely Capacity to Differentiate Between Disease and Histologic Remission.Gastro hep advances · 2025Review
- Development and validation of a droplet digital PCR assay for sensitive detection and quantification ofFrontiers in plant science · 2025Article
- Longitudinal fecal shedding of SARS-CoV-2, pepper mild mottle virus, and human mitochondrial DNA in COVID-19 patients.Frontiers in medicine · 2024Article
- Article
- Simultaneous detection and quantification of multiple pathogen targets in wastewater.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2023Article
- Risk Factors for Enteric Pathogen Exposure among Children in Black Belt Region of Alabama, USA.Emerging infectious diseases · 2023Article
- Cross-Sectional Study of Soil-Transmitted Helminthiases in Black Belt Region of Alabama, USA.Emerging infectious diseases · 2023Article
- Zika virus RNA persistence and recovery in water and wastewater: An approach for Zika virus surveillance in resource-constrained settings.Water research · 2023Article
- Article
- Phylodynamics Uncovers the Transmission of Antibiotic-ResistantbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2023Article
- PersistentEnvironmental science & technology · 2022Article
- Elevated Fecal Mitochondrial DNA from Symptomatic Norovirus Infections Suggests Potential Health Relevance of Human Mitochondrial DNA in Fecal Source Tracking.Environmental science & technology letters · 2022Article
- Wastewater-Based Estimation of the Effective Reproductive Number of SARS-CoV-2.Environmental health perspectives · 2022Article
- Inferring transmission fitness advantage of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern from wastewater samples using digital PCR, Switzerland, December 2020 through March 2021.Euro surveillance : bulletin Europeen sur les maladies transmissibles = European communicable disease bulletin · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Human mitochondrial DNA provides a promising target for fecal source tracking because it is unique and intrinsic to humans. We developed a TaqMan chemistry assay, hCYTB484, targeting the cytochrome b gene of the human mitochondrial genome on a droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) platform and compared the performance of hCYTB484 with the HF183/BacR287 assay, a widely used assay targeting human-associated Bacteroides. For both assays, we defined the analytical limit of detection and analytical lower limit of quantification using frequency of detection and imprecision goals, respectively. We then established these analytical limits using empirical ddPCR data, presenting a novel approach to determining the analytical lower limit of quantification. We evaluated assay sensitivity using individual human feces from US, Bangladesh, and Mozambique and evaluated assay specificity using cow, pig, chicken, and goat samples collected from the US. To compare assay performance across a range of thresholds, we utilized receiver operating characteristic curves. The hCYTB484 marker was detected and quantifiable in 100% of the human feces from the 3 geographical distant regions whereas the HF183/BacR287 marker was detectable and quantifiable in 51% and 31% (respectively) of human feces samples. The hCYTB484 marker also was more specific (97%), having fewer detections in pig, chicken, and goat samples than the HF183/BacR287 marker (80%). The higher performance of the hCYTB484 marker in individual feces from geographically distant regions is desirable in the detection of fecal pollution from sources to which fewer individuals contribute, such as the non-sewered forms of sanitation (e.g. pit latrines and septic tanks) that serve most of Earth's population and carry the highest risk of exposure to fecal-oral pathogens.
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Registered trials
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.