The 16S rRNA bacterial biodiversity of the flood water during massive flood session in Kota Bharu, December 2014

Introduction: Flood disasters are known all over the world to bring along with them

foodborne, waterborne and in some cases airborne diseases which are caused by a

variety of bacteria that infect man and animals.

Objective: A study was conducted to determine the 16S rRNA bacterial biodiversity of

the flood water that affected different parts of Kota Bharu, Kelantan in December, 2014.

Methods: A total of 31 water samples in 50ml sterile containers were collected from 6

different locations (5 samples from each of Taman Bendahara, Kampung Tok Sedang,

Kota Bharu clock roundabout, Kota Bharu mall area, Tesco mall area and 6 samples

from Jalan Kuala Krai) for bacteriological analysis by inoculating into blood agar and

nutrient agar using sterile swabs. Different bacteria were identified from the cultures that

grew within 24-48 hours, using colony morphology, differential/selective media and

biochemical tests. The isolated bacteria were sent for DNA Sanger sequencing.

Sequences with low trace score (<20) were removed, sequences were trimmed, capped

(pair-wise assembled) and the 16S biodiversity was analyzed using the 16S Biodiversity

Tool of Geneious R8.1(Biomatters) for windows 8.

Results: The results revealed 22 genera of bacteria belonging to 12 families:

Moraxellaceae (10%), Aeromonadaceae (8%), Comamonadaceae (13%),

Neisseriaceae (2%), Bacillaceae 1 (16%), Staphylococcaceae (8%), Bacillales Incertae

Sedis XII (3%), Bacillaceae 2 (3%), Streptococcaceae (2%), Flavobacteriaceae (2%),

Enterobacteriaceae (25%) and Pseudomonadaceae (10%).

Conclusion: The isolation of some strain of bacteria in the water during recent flood

occurrence had never been reported previously. It needs to be taken into consideration

for epidemiological study of flood pathogens to determine the future public health

implications.