International Journal of Microbiology Microbial Ecology and Global Health Guest Editors: Max Teplitski, Jorge H. Leitão, and Shlomo Sela Microbial Ecology and Global Health International Journal of Microbiology Microbial Ecology and Global Health Guest Editors: Max Teplitski, Jorge H. Leitao,˜ and Shlomo Sela Copyright © 2011 Hindawi Publishing Corporation. All rights reserved. This is a special issue published in volume 2011 of “International Journal of Microbiology.” All articles are open access articles distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, pro- vided the original work is properly cited. International Journal of Microbiology Editorial Board Vasco Azevedo, Brazil Marco Gobbetti, Italy Carla Pruzzo, Italy Arvind A. Bhagwat, USA Robert P. Gunsalus, USA R. M. Roop, USA Dulal Borthakur, USA Akira Hiraishi, Japan Kenneth S. Rosenthal, USA Todd R. Callaway, USA Po-Ren Hsueh, Taiwan Isabel Sa-Correia,´ Portugal Michael L. Chikindas, USA Jeroen Hugenholtz, The NetherlandsWilliam M. Shafer, USA P. Patrick Cleary, USA Barbara H. Iglewski, USA Kaarina Sivonen, Finland Luca Simone Cocolin, Italy Vijay K. Juneja, USA J. Glenn Songer, USA Peter Coloe, Australia Thomas L. Kieft, USA A. J. M. Stams, The Netherlands Giuseppe Comi, Italy Sandra Macfarlane, UK David C. Straus, USA Gregory M. Cook, New Zealand MichaelJ.McInerney,USA John Tagg, New Zealand Michael A. Cotta, USA Susana Merino, Spain Effie Tsakalidou, Greece Daniele Daffonchio, Italy Timothy A. Mietzner, USA Michael M. Tunney, Norway EduardoDei-Cas,France Hugh W. Morgan, New Zealand Mumtaz Virji, UK J. Wiegel, USA Joseph Falkinham, USA Ingolf Figved Nes, Norway Marcel H. Zwietering, The Netherlands Paula J. Fedorka-Cray, USA James D. Oliver, USA Arsenio M. Fialho, Portugal Toni L. Poole, USA Contents Microbial Ecology and Global Health, Max Teplitski, Jorge H. Leitao,andShlomoSela˜ Volume 2011, Article ID 564701, 2 pages Megacities as Sources for Pathogenic Bacteria in Rivers and Their Fate Downstream, Wolf-Rainer Abraham Volume 2011, Article ID 798292, 13 pages Defining Established and Emerging Microbial Risks in the Aquatic Environment: Current Knowledge, Implications, and Outlooks,NeilJ.Rowan Volume 2011, Article ID 462832, 15 pages Prominent Human Health Impacts from Several Marine Microbes: History, Ecology, and Public Health Implications,P.K.Bienfang,S.V.DeFelice,E.A.Laws,L.E.Brand,R.R.Bidigare,S.Christensen, H. Trapido-Rosenthal, T. K. Hemscheidt, D. J. McGillicuddy Jr., D. M. Anderson, H. M. Solo-Gabriele, A.B.Boehm,andL.C.Backer Volume 2011, Article ID 152815, 15 pages Burkholderia cepacia Complex: Emerging Multihost Pathogens Equipped with a Wide Range of Virulence Factors and Determinants,Sılvia´ A. Sousa, Christian G. Ramos, and Jorge H. Leitao˜ Volume 2011, Article ID 607575, 9 pages Molecular Detection of Persistent Francisella tularensis Subspecies holarctica in Natural Waters, T. Broman, J. Thelaus, A.-C. Andersson, S. Backman,¨ P. Wikstrom,¨ E. Larsson, M. Granberg, L. Karlsson, E. Back,¨ H. Eliasson, R. Mattsson, A. Sjostedt,¨ and M. Forsman Volume 2011, Article ID 851946, 10 pages Gene Expression during Survival of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in Soil and Water,AshleyD.Duffitt, Robert T. Reber, Andrew Whipple, and Christian Chauret Volume 2011, Article ID 340506, 12 pages Quantification of Persistence of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in Contrasting Soils,A.MarkIbekwe, Sharon K. Papiernik, Catherine M. Grieve, and Ching-Hong Yang Volume 2011, Article ID 421379, 11 pages Adhesion of Pathogenic Bacteria to Food Contact Surfaces: Influence of pH of Culture, Akier Assanta Mafu, Corinne Plumety, Louise Deschenes,ˆ and Jacques Goulet Volume 2011, Article ID 972494, 10 pages Assessment of Bacterial Antibiotic Resistance Transfer in the Gut, Susanne Schjørring and Karen A. Krogfelt Volume 2011, Article ID 312956, 10 pages Parenteral Antibiotics Reduce Bifidobacteria Colonization and Diversity in Neonates,Seamus´ Hussey, Rebecca Wall, Emma Gruffman, Lisa O’Sullivan, C. Anthony Ryan, Brendan Murphy, Gerald Fitzgerald, Catherine Stanton, and R. Paul Ross Volume 2011, Article ID 130574, 6 pages Hindawi Publishing Corporation International Journal of Microbiology Volume 2011, Article ID 564701, 2 pages doi:10.1155/2011/564701 Editorial Microbial Ecology and Global Health Max Teplitski,1 Jorge H. Leitao,˜ 2 and Shlomo Sela3 1 Soil and Water Sciences Department, Genetics Institute, University of Florida-IFAS, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA 2 Instituto de Biotecnologia e Biogenharia, Centro de Engenharia Biologica´ e Qu´ımica, Instituto Superior T´ecnico, Portugal 3 Microbial Food Safety Research Laboratory, Department of Food Quality and Safety, Agricultural Research Organization (ARO), The Volcani Center, Bet Dagan, Israel Correspondence should be addressed to Max Teplitski, maxtep@ufl.edu Received 20 January 2011; Accepted 20 January 2011 Copyright © 2011 Max Teplitski et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. This special issue of the International Journal of Microbiol- vision of the pressing research needs for science-based ogy focuses on global health. More specifically, our aim is solutions for the water quality and sanitation crisis in the to establish whether there is a role for microbial ecology in world’s urban population centers. global health. “Global health” is often defined as the “health A critical review by N. J. Rowan, builds a case for the need of populations” a problem that transcends geographic to adapt risk assessment and management framework to boundaries and exists at the intersection of demography, accommodate viable but nonculturable (VBNC) pathogens. economics, epidemiology, political economy, and sociology. N. J. Rowan’s review contains a thoughtful analysis of Conspicuously absent from this definition is microbial ecol- the methods for the detection and quantification of viable ogy. Is there, after all, a role for microorganisms in health of but non-culturable (VBNC) pathogens and Cryptosporidium populations or is “global health” defined strictly by its human oocysts, estimating virulence potential of the pathogens in dimensions? We argue that the analyses of the factors that led the VBNC state and developing risk assessment models that to the emergence and reemergence of pathogens, expansion take into consideration viable but non-culturable as well as of vector-transmitted diseases into the new areas of the drug-resistant pathogens. N. J. Rowan also offers a critical planet, and recent zoonotic outbreaks highlight an important analysis of the efficacy of new water sanitation technologies role for microbial ecology in the health of human popula- and the potential impacts of their byproducts on water tions. Original research and review articles within this special quality. issue contribute to the scientific scaffolding, upon which the Issues associated with the usefulness of indicator organ- risk assessment and management framework is to be built. isms arise again in the review by Bienfang et al. The first Nowhere on this planet are issues of microbial and part of the review by P. K. Bienfang et al. contains a human ecology more important than in large urban slums. thorough survey of marine dinoflagellates and cyanobacteria There, humans and microbes do not only intersect, they that produce toxic secondary metabolites, and comments on collide, and the consequences of this collision are often the hypotheses which link production of toxins with various catastrophic. A review by Abraham traces pathogenic, often environmental factors. The second part of their review is drug-resistant microbes from inadequate sanitation facilities dedicated to infectious marine microorganisms. This discus- in megapolises through rivers toward downstream con- sion is framed by the five dilemmas associated with the use sumers of tainted waters. The review addresses persistence of of indicator organisms to estimate the presence of infectious pathogens in rivers running through the world’s major cities, (introduced and autochthonous) pathogens in seawater. interactions of waterborne pathogens with highly diverse Autochthonous opportunistic pathogens take the center aquatic microbiota, their survival in favorable environmental stage in the review by S. A. Sousa et al. and the environmental niches, in biofilms, and in association with amoeba. The survey of T. Broman et al. Over a 3-year period, T. author then comments on the utility of indicator organisms Broman et al. tested nearly six hundred water and sediment in assessing quality of waters in megacities and offers his samples and almost one hundred wild rodents for the 2 International Journal of Microbiology presence of endemic strains of Francisella tularensis. This mous infamy and thus diminish the role of ecology of study demonstrates that culturable F. tularensis is widely common soil and water microorganisms in the health of distributed in the environment. It tests the utility of certain human populations. Each year throughout the past century, genetic markers for the discrimination between potentially humans were more and more assertive in defining our global pathogenic and nonpathogenic environmental isolates of environment. We rarely, however, reflect on the question of Francisella.S.A.Sousaetal.provideathoroughreviewof how global climate change, population dynamics, methods