Jorge W. Santo Domingo

US Environmental Protection Agency

Dr. Santo Domingo is a research microbiologist with the U.S. EPA in Cincinnati, Ohio. His research work focuses on the use molecular assays to detect waterborne pathogens, track sources of fecal pollution in environmental waters, and examine the molecular diversity of microbial communities inhabiting drinking water systems. He holds a PhD in Microbiology from Michigan State University and a MS in Biology from the University of Puerto Rico. He has co-authored over 60 scientific manuscripts, including peer-reviewed articles and book chapters, and co-edited two books: Safe Management of Shellfish and Harvest Waters for the World Health Organization (2009; IWA Publishing, London, UK) and Microbial Source Tracking for the American Society for Microbiology (2007; ASM Press, Washington. DC). His is a former Associate Editor for the Journal of Environmental Quality and has been an ad-hoc reviewer for several peer review scientific journals and federal agencies (e.g., NSF, NOAA, USDA, CICEET). His main interests relate to molecular microbial ecology, applied environmental microbiology, microbial water quality, ecosystems biology, and microbial genomics.

Abstract

The demands for providing water safe for both drinking and recreational activities have notably increased in recent decades due to the human exponential growth. During this time water availability has significantly decreased worldwide as a result of climate change and anthropocentric activities impacting the biological and chemical integrity of environmental waters. From a microbial standpoint, one of the most significant challenges facing environmental scientists is to meet regulatory standards in spite of the shortcomings characteristic of culture-based technologies used to monitor microbial quality of water.

Specifically, the strict dependence on culturing techniques to determine the densities of indicator bacteria and microbial pathogens prevent us from accurately assessing health risks associated with fecally polluted waters.

Moreover, conventional methods used to measure fecal indicators cannot discriminate between the different pollution sources, not even at the most simple level (i.e., human vs non-human fecal sources). In this seminar, we will discuss the results from studies using nucleic acid-based approaches to develop novel microbial source tracking PCR assays, with special attention on animal-specific assays. In summary, the results show the importance of understanding the molecular diversity of targeted fecal bacterial populations in order to successfully develop robust quantitative assays. The possibility of simultaneously screening hundreds of microbial gene targets relevant to public and ecosystems health will also be discussed using as an ecological framework.