Methodological differences between studies confound one-size-fits-all approaches to managing surface waterways for food and water safety

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dc.contributor.authorWeller, Daniel L.en
dc.contributor.authorMurphy, Claire M.en
dc.contributor.authorLove, Tanzy M. T.en
dc.contributor.authorDanyluk, Michelle D.en
dc.contributor.authorStrawn, Laura K.en
dc.date.accessioned2025-01-27T18:11:28Zen
dc.date.available2025-01-27T18:11:28Zen
dc.date.issued2024-01-12en
dc.description.abstractEven though differences in methodology (e.g., sample volume and detection method) have been shown to affect observed microbial water quality, multiple sampling and laboratory protocols continue to be used for water quality monitoring. Research is needed to determine how these differences impact the comparability of findings to generate best management practices and the ability to perform meta-analyses. This study addresses this knowledge gap by compiling and analyzing a data set representing 2,429,990 unique data points on at least one microbial water quality target (e.g., Salmonella presence and Escherichia coli concentration). Variance partitioning analysis was used to quantify the variance in likelihood of detecting each pathogenic target that was uniquely and jointly attributable to non-methodological versus methodological factors. The strength of the association between microbial water quality and select methodological and non-methodological factors was quantified using conditional forest and regression analysis. Fecal indicator bacteria concentrations were more strongly associated with non-methodological factors than methodological factors based on conditional forest analysis. Variance partitioning analysis could not disentangle non-methodological and methodological signals for pathogenic Escherichia coli, Salmonella, and Listeria. This suggests our current perceptions of foodborne pathogen ecology in water systems are confounded by methodological differences between studies. For example, 31% of total variance in likelihood of Salmonella detection was explained by methodological and/or non-methodological factors, 18% was jointly attributable to both methodological and non-methodological factors. Only 13% of total variance was uniquely attributable to non-methodological factors for Salmonella, highlighting the need for standardization of methods for microbiological water quality testing for comparison across studies.en
dc.description.versionPublished versionen
dc.format.extent29 page(s)en
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1128/aem.01835-23en
dc.identifier.eissn1098-5336en
dc.identifier.issn0099-2240en
dc.identifier.issue2en
dc.identifier.orcidStrawn, Laura [0000-0002-9523-0081]en
dc.identifier.pmid38214516en
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10919/124394en
dc.identifier.volume90en
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherAmerican Society for Microbiologyen
dc.relation.urihttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/38214516en
dc.rightsCreative Commons Attribution 4.0 Internationalen
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/en
dc.subjectproduce safetyen
dc.subjectmethods comparisonen
dc.subjectwater qualityen
dc.subjectSalmonellaen
dc.subjectListeriaen
dc.subjectshiga toxin Escherichia colien
dc.subject.meshEscherichia colien
dc.subject.meshSalmonellaen
dc.subject.meshListeriaen
dc.subject.meshEnvironmental Microbiologyen
dc.subject.meshFood Microbiologyen
dc.subject.meshFooden
dc.subject.meshFood Safetyen
dc.titleMethodological differences between studies confound one-size-fits-all approaches to managing surface waterways for food and water safetyen
dc.title.serialApplied and Environmental Microbiologyen
dc.typeArticle - Refereeden
dc.type.dcmitypeTexten
dc.type.otherArticleen
dc.type.otherJournalen
pubs.organisational-groupVirginia Techen
pubs.organisational-groupVirginia Tech/Agriculture & Life Sciencesen
pubs.organisational-groupVirginia Tech/Agriculture & Life Sciences/Food Science and Technologyen
pubs.organisational-groupVirginia Tech/All T&R Facultyen
pubs.organisational-groupVirginia Tech/Agriculture & Life Sciences/CALS T&R Facultyen

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