Kwanrawee Joy Sirikanchana

Chulabhorn Research Institute · Research Laboratory of Biotechnology

We developed sewage-specific microbial source tracking (MST) tools using enterococci bacteriophages and evaluated their performance with univariate and multivariate analyses involving data below detection limits. Newly isolated Enterococci faecalis bacterial strains AIM06 (DSM100702) and SR14 (DSM100701) demonstrated 100% specificity and 90% sensit...

We assessed the occurrence and specificity of bacteriophages of Bacteroides fragilis in swine farms for their potential application in microbial source tracking. A local B. fragilis host strain, SP25 (DSM29413), was isolated from a pooled swine feces sample taken from a non-antibiotic farm. This strain was highly specific to swine fecal materials b...

AimsTo evaluate the use of non-local, already available strains of phages to indicate fecal contamination in Thailand's water.Methods and ResultsPhages of B. fragilis strains ATCC 700786 (RYC2056PH) and ATCC 51477 (HSP40PH) were measured in 71 human and animal wastewater samples in Thailand using a double-layer agar assay. Bacteriophage RYC2056PH w...

The co-residence of bacteriophages and their bacterial hosts in humans, animals, and environmental sources directed the use of bacteriophages to track origins of the pathogenic bacteria that can be found in contaminated water. The objective of this study was to enumerate bacteriophages of Aeromonas caviae (AecaKS148), Enterobacter sp. (EnspKS513),...

The effect of pH (6-10), temperature (10-30 degrees C), disinfectant concentration (1-11mg/l as Cl(2)), and ammonia nitrogen-to-chlorine molar ratio (1.3-52) on the inactivation kinetics of adenovirus serotype 2 with monochloramine was investigated by performing batch-reactor experiments with synthetic 0.01M buffer (phosphate or borate) solutions....

Microbial contamination deteriorates source water quality, posing a severe problem for drinking water suppliers worldwide and addressed by the Water Safety Plan framework to ensure high-quality and reliable drinking water.Microbial source tracking (MST) is used to examine different microbial pollution sources via host-specific intestinal markers fo...

The early warning and tracking of COVID-19 prevalence in the community provided by wastewater surveillance has highlighted its potential for much broader viral disease surveillance. In this proof-of-concept study, 46 wastewater samples from four wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in Queensland, Australia, were analyzed for the presence and abundan...

Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) complements the clinical surveillance of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and its variants' distribution in populations. Many developed nations have established national and regional WBE systems; however, governance and budget constraints could be obstacles for low- and middle-income c...

The human population has doubled in the last 50 years from about 3.7 billion to approximately 7.8 billion. With this rapid expansion, more people live in close contact with wildlife, livestock, and pets, which in turn creates increasing opportunities for zoonotic diseases to pass between animals and people. At present an estimated 75% of all emergi...

TriR serves as a repressor for a resistance-nodulation-cell division (RND) efflux pump TriABC involved in triclosan (TCS) resistance in Agrobacterium tumefaciens. The triR gene is transcribed divergently from the triABC operon. TriR specifically bound to the triR-triA intergenic region, at an imperfect 10 bp inverted repeat, 5′-TTGACTAttC-GgtTAGTCA...

Water commuting is a major urban transportation method in Thailand. However, urban boat commuters risk exposure to microbially contaminated bioaerosols or splash. We aimed to investigate the microbial community structures, identify bacterial and viral pathogens, and assess the abundance of antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs) using next-generation...

This chapter outlines some of the impacts that diffuse pollution inputs can have on water quality and introduces some of the waterborne microbial contaminants and emerging pollutants of human and/or environmental health significance. The chapter also highlights some of the challenges associated with successfully identifying and mitigating diffuse s...

Public toilets may increase the risk of COVID-19 infection via airborne transmission; however, related research is limited. We aimed to estimate SARS-CoV-2 infection risk through respiratory transmission using a quantitative microbial risk assessment framework by retrieving SARS-CoV-2 concentrations from the swab tests of 251 Thai patients. Three v...

Tilapia tilapinevirus, or Tilapia Lake Virus (TiLV), is a RNA virus associated with mass morbidity and mortality in tilapia, leading to severe economic losses for global tilapia aquaculture. In this study, we investigated the persistence of TiLV in water by spiking sterile distilled water (SDW), freshwater collected from rearing fish tanks (FW) and...

Wastewater surveillance for SARS-CoV-2 RNA has been a successful indicator of COVID-19 outbreaks in populations prior to clinical testing. However, this has been mostly conducted in high-income countries, which means there is a dearth of performance investigations in low- and middle-income countries with different socio-economic settings. This stud...

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB) and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) are pollutants of worldwide concern that threaten human health and ecosystems. Anthropogenic activities and wastewater could be ARB and ARG pollution sources; however, research on ARG abundance and microbial source tracking (MST) of contamination in tropical marine waters is...

Public toilets could increase the risk of COVID-19 infection via airborne transmission; however, related research is limited. We aimed to estimate SARS-CoV-2 infection risk through respiratory transmission using a quantitative microbial risk assessment framework by retrieving SARS-CoV-2 concentrations from the swab tests of 251 Thai patients. Three...

Wastewater surveillance for pathogens using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) is an effective and resource-efficient tool for gathering additional community-level public health information, including the incidence of coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19). Surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater can provide an early warning signa...

The degradation of coastal water quality from fecal pollution poses a health risk to visitors at recreational beaches. Fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) are a proxy for fecal pollution; however the accuracy of their representation of fecal pollution health risks at recreational beaches impacted by non-point sources is disputed due to non-human derivat...

This chapter describes the current status and challenges regarding the governance of wastewater surveillance systems against COVID-19. Monitoring SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater has been proposed to be a potential tool to understand the actual prevalence of COVID-19 in the community, and it could be an effective tool during the pandemic to monitor the tre...

Wastewater surveillance for pathogens using the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) is an effective, resource-efficient tool for gathering additional community-level public health information, including the incidence and/or prevalence and trends of coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19). Surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater may...

Rapid economic development can lead to industrial expansion into residential communities, which results in the discharge of fecal pollution in aquatic environments. However, little is known regarding the potential impact on human health. This study investigated microbial contamination from coastal industrial-residential community areas in nine samp...

Anthropogenically impacted urban canals represent distinct freshwater ecosystems that could shape microbial communities in underlying sediments; however, knowledge of the relationships between environmental factors and microbial community compositions and their functions in such an environment is limited. This study characterized the microbial comm...

Objectives Antibacterial resistance (ABR) is a major global health security threat, with a disproportionate burden on lower-and middle-income countries (LMICs). It is not understood how ‘One Health’, where human health is co-dependent on animal health and the environment, might impact the burden of ABR in LMICs. Thailand's 2017 “National Strategic...

Data extraction matrix and parameters of all articles included in the systematic review, inclusion and exclusion criteria and search strings.

Capsid integrity quantitative PCR (qPCR), a molecular detection method for infectious viruses combining azo dye pretreatment with qPCR, has been widely used in recent years; however, variations in pretreatment conditions for various virus types can limit the efficacy of specific protocols. By identifying and critically synthesizing forty-two recent...

Identifying sewage contamination via microbial source tracking (MST) marker genes has proven useful for effective water quality management worldwide; however, performance 3 evaluations for these marker genes in tropical areas are limited. Therefore, this research evaluated four human-associated MST marker genes for tracking sewage pollution in aqua...

Identifying human sewage contamination via microbial source tracking (MST) marker genes has proven useful for effective water quality management worldwide; however, performance evaluations for these genes in tropical areas are limited. Therefore, this research assessed four human-associated MST marker genes in aquatic environments of Central Thaila...

This book contains topics on the role of climatic factors on the epidemiology, prevalence, distribution, prevention and control of fish diseases. The 25 chapters that are divided into three main parts that discuss freshwater ecosystems and biological sequestrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide; microbial diseases (viral, bacterial and fungal infec...

Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) demonstrates the potential for COVID-19 community monitoring; however, data on the stability of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater are needed to interpret WBE results. The decay of RNA from SARS-CoV-2 and a potential surrogate, murine hepatitis virus (MHV), were investigated by reverse transcription-quantitative polyme...

An understanding of microbial communities present in anaerobic bioreactors can strongly facilitate the development of approaches to control undesirable microorganisms, such as sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB), in the system. In this study, overall microbial communities present in anaerobic bioreactors from seven industrial wastewater treatment plant...

A widely used microbial source tracking (MST) technique, quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), quantifies host-specific gene abundance in polluted water to identify and prioritize contamination sources. This study characterized the effects of a qPCR data analysis using the sample PCR efficiencies (the LinRegPCR model) on gene abundance and...

Capsid-integrity quantitative PCR (qPCR), a molecular detection method for infectious viruses combining azo-dye pretreatment with qPCR, has been widely used in recent years; however, variations in pretreatment conditions for various virus types can limit the efficacy of specific protocols. By identifying and critically synthesizing forty-two recent...

The bacteriophages of E. faecalis strains AIM06 (DSM100702) and SR14 (DSM100701) have previously been validated as human-specific microbial source tracking (MST) markers in Thailand. In this study, their spatial and temporal distribution in a freshwater river was investigated for the first time (n = 48). The abundance of ente-rococci as a standard...

The process of pinpointing water pollution sources using host-specific gastrointestinal microbes, known as microbial source tracking (MST), has significant benefits for countries with water quality management issues related to pollution. A bacteriophage recently discovered using a metagenomic cross-assembly approach, or crAssphage, shows promise as...

Water quality impairment is a problem of increasing concern worldwide. The origin of fecal water pollution can be traced by detecting host-specific gastrointestinal microbiota excreted with feces. This growing area of research and development is called microbial source tracking (MST). However, the abundance and distribution of gut microbial communi...

Pinpointing water pollution sources using host-specific gastrointestinal microbes, known as microbial source tracking (MST), has significant benefits for countries with water quality management issues related to pollution. A recently discovered bacteriophage, crAssphage, shows promise as a human-specific MST marker. However, loss of genetic materia...

Tilapia lake virus (TiLV) is an emerging virus associated with high fish mortality and economic losses. This study investigates the virucidal effects of the following disinfectants (active ingredients) on TiLV: 2.5 ppm iodine, 10 ppm sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl), 300 ppm hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), 80 ppm formalin, and 5,000 ppm (0.5%) Virkon®. Factor...

Coastal water quality has been deteriorating worldwide. Water quality monitoring is essential for public health risk evaluation and the management of water bodies. This study investigated the feasibility of using bacteriophages of Enterococcus faecalis as sewage-specific faecal indicators, together with physicochemical (dissolved oxygen, pH, temper...

The human gut bacteriophage crAssphage has been proposed as a human-specific microbial source tracking (MST) marker for impacted water bodies. However, its global use as a human-specific MST marker requires validation in a tropical region. In this study, a crAssphage qPCR marker (CPQ_056) was detected in 21 sewage samples in Thailand with 100% sens...

The enhancement and restoration of the water quality of deteriorating surface water resources can be challenging , particularly for rivers with multiple usages, such as agriculture, animal husbandry, human residence, and industries. Recently, the performance of DNA-based microbial source tracking (MST) indicators detected by end-point and quantitat...

Bacteriophages of enterococci were used as sewage-specific fecal indicators, together with physicochemical and biological parameters, for assessing coastal water quality in Thailand. The results indicated that coastal water quality was mostly affected by biological parameters and bacteriophages of enterococci could be used as fecal indicators for s...

Figure S2 Calculation for optimal number of clusters using k-means clustering algorithm

Figure S1 Scree plot of the principal components

• Faecal pollution is one major cause of water quality impairment and a source for pathogen transmission • The correct identification of sources of faecal pollution using gut microorganisms, a so-called Microbial Source Tracking (MST), not only offer public health protection but also facilitate the improvement and prioritization of management pla...

Enterococcus faecalis bacteria have been recently reported for their ability to host bacteriophages that are specifically from human sewage, suggesting their application to track human fecal contamination in water resources. However, little is known about the survivability of sewage-specific enterococcal bacteriophages in various water matrices und...

We have read with great interest the manuscript entitled “High levels of faecal contamination in drinking groundwater and recreational water due to poor sanitation, in the sub-rural neighbourhoods of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo” by Kayembe et al. published very recently in the International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health...