ABSTRACT
Recreational water quality is commonly assessed by microbial indicators such as fecal coliforms. Maceió is the capital of Alagoas state, located in tropical northeastern Brazil. Its beaches are considered as the most beautiful urban beaches in the country. Jatiúca Beach in Maceió was found to be unsuitable for bathing continuously during the year of 2011. The same level of contamination was not observed in surrounding beaches. The aim of this study was to initiate the search for the sources of these high coliform levels, so that contamination can be eventually mitigated. We performed a retrospective analysis of historical results of fecal coliform concentrations from 2006 to 2012 at five monitoring stations located in the study region. Results showed that Jatiúca Beach consistently presented the worst quality among the studied beaches. A field survey was conducted to identify existing point and non-point sources of pollution in the area. Monitoring in the vicinity of Jatiúca was spatially intensified. Fecal coliform concentrations were categorized according to tide range and tide stage. A storm drain located in northern Jatiúca was identified as the main point source of the contamination. However, fecal coliform concentrations at Jatiúca were high during high tides and spring tides even when this point source was inactive (no rainfall). We hypothesize that high fecal coliform levels in Jatiúca Beach may also be caused by aquifer contamination or, more likely, from tide washing of contaminated sand. Both of these hypotheses will be further investigated.
Subject(s)
Bacteria/chemistry , Bacteria/classification , Bacteria/genetics , Bacteria/isolation & purification , Bacteria/microbiology , Brazil/chemistry , Brazil/classification , Brazil/genetics , Brazil/isolation & purification , Brazil/microbiology , Environmental Monitoring/chemistry , Environmental Monitoring/classification , Environmental Monitoring/genetics , Environmental Monitoring/isolation & purification , Environmental Monitoring/microbiology , Feces/chemistry , Feces/classification , Feces/genetics , Feces/isolation & purification , Feces/microbiology , Recreation/chemistry , Recreation/classification , Recreation/genetics , Recreation/isolation & purification , Recreation/microbiology , Retrospective Studies/chemistry , Retrospective Studies/classification , Retrospective Studies/genetics , Retrospective Studies/isolation & purification , Retrospective Studies/microbiology , Seasons/chemistry , Seasons/classification , Seasons/genetics , Seasons/isolation & purification , Seasons/microbiology , Seawater/chemistry , Seawater/classification , Seawater/genetics , Seawater/isolation & purification , Seawater/microbiology , Water Pollution/chemistry , Water Pollution/classification , Water Pollution/genetics , Water Pollution/isolation & purification , Water Pollution/microbiologyABSTRACT
Abstract We evaluated the antimicrobial activity of Aspilia latissima - an abundant plant from the Brazilian Pantanal region - against Candida albicans, Candida parapsilosis, Candida krusei, Candida tropicalis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Enterococcus faecalis, Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. The crude extracts and fractions showed activity in all tested microorganisms. The chloroform fraction of the leaves and roots showed the most antimicrobial activity against S. aureus, with an MIC of 500 μg/mL. This fraction was submitted to bioautographic assays to characterize the activity of the compounds. Two bands from the leaves (L-A and L-B) and three bands from the roots (R-C, R-D and R-E) were bioactive. Within the root-derived bands, the terpene derivatives stigmasterol, kaurenoic acid and kaura-9(11), 16-dien-18-oic acid were identified. Antibiotic activity of A. latissima is reported for the first time.