Carriage of Clostridium perfringens by benthic crabs in a sewage-polluted estuary

• Published in: Marine pollution bulletin 2015-08, Vol.97 (1-2), p.365-372
• Main Authors: La Sala, Luciano F., Redondo, Leandro M., Díaz Carrasco, Juan M., Pereyra, Ana María, Farber, Marisa, Jost, Helen, Fernández-Miyakawa, Mariano E.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Argentina; Bacterial Toxins - genetics; Brachyura - microbiology; Brackish; Calcium-Binding Proteins - genetics; Carriages; Clostridium; Clostridium perfringens; Clostridium perfringens - genetics; Clostridium perfringens - isolation & purification; Coastal; Crabs; Cyrtograpsus angulatus; Decapoda; Ecosystem; Encoding; enterotoxins; Estuaries; genes; genetic techniques and protocols; Geologic Sediments - microbiology; habitats; in vitro studies; Indicator bacteria; Marine; microorganisms; monitoring; Monitoring organisms; Phylogeny; Pollution; Pollution abatement; sediments; Sewage; Sewage - microbiology; Type C Phospholipases - genetics; Water Pollution; wetlands
• ISSN: 0025-326X; 1879-3363
• DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2015.05.066

•Clostridium perfringens (CP) was studied in crabs from a sewage-polluted estuary.•CP was found in 49.1% of the crabs and all of the isolates were type A.•The alpha (cpa) and enterotoxin (cpe) encoding genes were identified.•Odds of CP carriage were significantly higher in crabs from the most polluted areas.•The crab-CP association is a reliable monitoring system for sewage pollution. The Estuary of Bahía Blanca (EBB), Argentina, is an important wetland under intense sewage pollution. We investigated the occurrence of Clostridium perfringens (CP) in populations of two benthic crabs (Neohelice granulata and Cyrtograpsus angulatus) and in sediment from the EBB. CP was found in 49.1% of the crabs and all of the isolates were identified as type A. The alpha (cpa) and enterotoxin (cpe) encoding genes were identified. Genetic analyses identified 13 novel sequence types, and found no clustering among isolates, suggesting that CP is not part of the crabs’ commensal flora. CP carriage was 51 times more likely in crabs from the area nearest sewage outfalls compared with crabs from a reference site. Our in vitro experiments suggest that the carriage of CP in crabs is transient. The use of these benthic crabs as monitoring organisms of sewage pollution in coastal habitats is proposed.