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Lou EG, Fu Y, Wang Q, Treangen TJ, Stadler LB. Sensitivity and consistency of long- and short-read metagenomics and epicPCR for the detection of antibiotic resistance genes and their bacterial hosts in wastewater. JOURNAL OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS 2024; 469:133939. [PMID: 38490149 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2024.133939] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2023] [Revised: 02/12/2024] [Accepted: 02/29/2024] [Indexed: 03/17/2024]
Abstract
Wastewater surveillance is a powerful tool to assess the risks associated with antibiotic resistance in communities. One challenge is selecting which analytical tool to deploy to measure risk indicators, such as antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and their respective bacterial hosts. Although metagenomics is frequently used for analyzing ARGs, few studies have compared the performance of long-read and short-read metagenomics in identifying which bacteria harbor ARGs in wastewater. Furthermore, for ARG host detection, untargeted metagenomics has not been compared to targeted methods such as epicPCR. Here, we 1) evaluated long-read and short-read metagenomics as well as epicPCR for detecting ARG hosts in wastewater, and 2) investigated the host range of ARGs across the wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) to evaluate host proliferation. Results highlighted long-read revealed a wider range of ARG hosts compared to short-read metagenomics. Nonetheless, the ARG host range detected by long-read metagenomics only represented a subset of the hosts detected by epicPCR. The ARG-host linkages across the influent and effluent of the WWTP were characterized. Results showed the ARG-host phylum linkages were relatively consistent across the WWTP, whereas new ARG-host species linkages appeared in the WWTP effluent. The ARG-host linkages of several clinically relevant species found in the effluent were identified.
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Affiliation(s)
- Esther G Lou
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Rice University, 6100 Main Street, Houston, TX 77005, USA
| | - Yilei Fu
- Department of Computer Science, Rice University, 6100 Main Street, Houston, TX 77005, USA
| | - Qi Wang
- Department of Computer Science, Rice University, 6100 Main Street, Houston, TX 77005, USA
| | - Todd J Treangen
- Department of Computer Science, Rice University, 6100 Main Street, Houston, TX 77005, USA
| | - Lauren B Stadler
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Rice University, 6100 Main Street, Houston, TX 77005, USA.
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2
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Wang Y, Zhang S, Li L, Zhang Q, Yang L, Yang K, Liu Y, Zhu H, Lai B, Wu J, Hua L. Airborne ARGs/MGEs from two sewage types during the COVID-21: Population, microbe interactions, cytotoxicity, formation mechanism, and dispersion. WATER RESEARCH 2024; 254:121368. [PMID: 38417267 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2024.121368] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/15/2023] [Revised: 01/31/2024] [Accepted: 02/22/2024] [Indexed: 03/01/2024]
Abstract
During the COVID-2021 epidemic, a large number of antibiotics were used for clinical treatment in hospitals or daily prevention. Sewage from hospital sewage treatment centers (HSTC) and wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) produced a lot of antibiotic-resistance genes/mobile genetic elements (ARGs/MGEs). In this study, the sewage and bioaerosol in the biochemical tank (BT) of an HSTC and a WWTP were sampled throughout the year. The results showed that the average absolute abundance of sewage in BT of WWTP (BTW-W) was higher than sewage in BT of HSTC (BTW-H). Sewage was an important source of microorganisms and ARGs/MGEs in the air of BT. Microorganisms and MGEs were the factors affecting the differences in ARGs/MGEs. Cytotoxicity experiment proved that the cytotoxicity changed from Grade III to Grade IV with the increase in drug-resistant Escherichia coli concentration. According to the formation mechanism formula, the average generation rate of ARGs/MGEs in BT of HSTC was lower than that in WWTP. The diffusion range of ARGs/MGEs of HSTC was larger than that of WWTP. According to the above results, this study found that when people were far away from BT, the health risk of HSTC caused by the diffusion of bioaerosol was higher than WWTP; When people were close to BT, the health risk of WWTP was higher than HSTC due to the aeration of BT. This study provided a basis for public protection of ARGs. In the future, the elimination of airborne ARGs and crowd protection can be further studied in detail.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yanjie Wang
- School of Public Health, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, PR China; Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, United Kingdom; State Key Laboratory of Environmental Aquatic Chemistry, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, PR China
| | - Song Zhang
- School of Public Health, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, PR China
| | - Lin Li
- State Key Laboratory of Environmental Aquatic Chemistry, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, PR China
| | - Qiao Zhang
- School of Public Health, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, PR China
| | - Liying Yang
- School of Public Health, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, PR China
| | - Kai Yang
- School of Public Health, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, PR China
| | - Yang Liu
- School of Public Health, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, PR China
| | - Haoran Zhu
- School of Public Health, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, PR China
| | - Bisheng Lai
- School of Public Health, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, PR China
| | - Jian Wu
- School of Public Health, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, PR China.
| | - Linlin Hua
- School of Public Health, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, PR China; Advanced Medical Center, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450014, PR China.
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3
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Keenum I, Calarco J, Majeed H, Hager-Soto EE, Bott C, Garner E, Harwood VJ, Pruden A. To what extent do water reuse treatments reduce antibiotic resistance indicators? A comparison of two full-scale systems. WATER RESEARCH 2024; 254:121425. [PMID: 38492480 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2024.121425] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2023] [Revised: 03/03/2024] [Accepted: 03/04/2024] [Indexed: 03/18/2024]
Abstract
Water reuse is an essential strategy for reducing water demand from conventional sources, alleviating water stress, and promoting sustainability, but understanding the effectiveness of associated treatment processes as barriers to the spread of antibiotic resistance is an important consideration to protecting human health. We comprehensively evaluated the reduction of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB) in two field-operational water reuse systems with distinct treatment trains, one producing water for indirect potable reuse (ozone/biologically-active carbon/granular activated carbon) and the other for non-potable reuse (denitrification-filtration/chlorination) using metagenomic sequencing and culture. Relative abundances of total ARGs/clinically-relevant ARGs and cultured ARB were reduced by several logs during primary and secondary stages of wastewater treatment, but to a lesser extent during the tertiary water reuse treatments. In particular, ozonation tended to enrich multi-drug ARGs. The effect of chlorination was facility-dependent, increasing the relative abundance of ARGs when following biologically-active carbon filters, but generally providing a benefit in reduced bacterial numbers and ecological and human health resistome risk scores. Relative abundances of total ARGs and resistome risk scores were lowest in aquifer samples, although resistant Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae were occasionally detected in the monitoring well 3-days downgradient from injection, but not 6-months downgradient. Resistant E. coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were occasionally detected in the nonpotable reuse distribution system, along with increased levels of multidrug, sulfonamide, phenicol, and aminoglycoside ARGs. This study illuminates specific vulnerabilities of water reuse systems to persistence, selection, and growth of ARGs and ARB and emphasizes the role of multiple treatment barriers, including aquifers and distribution systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ishi Keenum
- Via Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA; Present address: Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering, Michigan Tech, Houghton, MI, USA
| | - Jeanette Calarco
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA
| | - Haniyyah Majeed
- Via Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA
| | - E Eldridge Hager-Soto
- Via Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA
| | - Charles Bott
- Hampton Roads Sanitation District, Virginia Beach, VA, USA
| | - Emily Garner
- Wadsworth Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, USA
| | - Valerie J Harwood
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA
| | - Amy Pruden
- Via Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA.
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Gao X, Xu L, Zhong T, Song X, Zhang H, Liu X, Jiang Y. The proliferation of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and microbial communities in industrial wastewater treatment plant treating N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) by AAO process. PLoS One 2024; 19:e0299740. [PMID: 38598457 PMCID: PMC11006197 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0299740] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/27/2023] [Accepted: 02/14/2024] [Indexed: 04/12/2024] Open
Abstract
The excessive use of antibiotics has resulted in the contamination of the environment with antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), posing a significant threat to public health. Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are known to be reservoirs of ARGs and considered to be hotspots for horizontal gene transfer (HGT) between bacterial communities. However, most studies focused on the distribution and dissemination of ARGs in hospital and urban WWTPs, and little is known about their fate in industrial WWTPs. In this study, collected the 15 wastewater samples containing N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) from five stages of the anaerobic anoxic aerobic (AAO) process in an industrial WWTPs. The findings revealed a stepwise decrease in DMF and chemical oxygen demand (COD) content with the progression of treatment. However, the number and abundances of ARGs increase in the effluents of biological treatments. Furthermore, the residues of DMF and the treatment process altered the structure of the bacterial community. The correlation analysis indicated that the shift in bacterial community structures might be the main driver for the dynamics change of ARGs. Interestingly, observed that the AAO process may acted as a microbial source and increased the total abundance of ARGs instead of attenuating it. Additionally, found that non-pathogenic bacteria had higher ARGs abundance than pathogenic bacteria in effluents. The study provides insights into the microbial community structure and the mechanisms that drive the variation in ARGs abundance in industrial WWTPs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xuan Gao
- Anhui Provincial Key Laboratory of Molecular Enzymology and Mechanism of Major Diseases and Key Laboratory of Biomedicine in Gene Diseases and Health of Anhui Higher Education Institutes, Anhui Normal University, Wuhu, Anhui, China
| | - Longhui Xu
- Anhui Provincial Key Laboratory of Molecular Enzymology and Mechanism of Major Diseases and Key Laboratory of Biomedicine in Gene Diseases and Health of Anhui Higher Education Institutes, Anhui Normal University, Wuhu, Anhui, China
| | - Tao Zhong
- Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Anhui University of Technology, Ma’anshan, China
- Engineering Research Center of Biofilm Water Purification and Utilization Technology, Ministry of Education, Anhui University of Technology, Ma’anshan, China
| | - Xinxin Song
- Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Anhui University of Technology, Ma’anshan, China
- Engineering Research Center of Biofilm Water Purification and Utilization Technology, Ministry of Education, Anhui University of Technology, Ma’anshan, China
| | - Hong Zhang
- Anhui Provincial Key Laboratory of Molecular Enzymology and Mechanism of Major Diseases and Key Laboratory of Biomedicine in Gene Diseases and Health of Anhui Higher Education Institutes, Anhui Normal University, Wuhu, Anhui, China
| | - Xiaohui Liu
- Anhui Provincial Key Laboratory of Molecular Enzymology and Mechanism of Major Diseases and Key Laboratory of Biomedicine in Gene Diseases and Health of Anhui Higher Education Institutes, Anhui Normal University, Wuhu, Anhui, China
| | - Yongbin Jiang
- Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Anhui University of Technology, Ma’anshan, China
- Engineering Research Center of Biofilm Water Purification and Utilization Technology, Ministry of Education, Anhui University of Technology, Ma’anshan, China
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5
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Castaño-Ortiz JM, Romero F, Cojoc L, Barceló D, Balcázar JL, Rodríguez-Mozaz S, Santos LHMLM. Accumulation of polyethylene microplastics in river biofilms and effect on the uptake, biotransformation and toxicity of the antimicrobial triclosan. ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION (BARKING, ESSEX : 1987) 2024; 344:123369. [PMID: 38253165 DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2024.123369] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2023] [Revised: 01/14/2024] [Accepted: 01/15/2024] [Indexed: 01/24/2024]
Abstract
The interaction of multiple stressors in freshwater ecosystems may lead to adverse effects on aquatic communities and their ecological functions. Microplastics (MPs) are a class of contaminants of emerging concern that can exert both direct and indirect ecotoxicological effects. A growing number of studies have investigated MPs-attached microbial communities, but the interaction between MPs and substrate-associated biofilm (i.e., on natural river substrates, such as stones and sediments) remains poorly studied. In this work, the combined effects of polyethylene MPs (PE-MPs) with a particle size of 10-45 μm (2 mg/L) and the antimicrobial triclosan (TCS) (20 μg/L) were investigated on river biofilms through a short-term exposure experiment (72 h). To the best of authors' knowledge, this is the first time that the combined effects of MPs and chemical contaminants in substrate-associated river biofilms were assessed. Different response parameters were evaluated, including (i) exposure assessment and ii) contaminants effects at different levels: bacterial community composition, antibiotic resistance, extracellular polymeric substances (EPS), photosynthetic efficiency (Yeff), and leucine aminopeptidase activity (LAPA). Triclosan was accumulated in river biofilms (1189-1513 ng/g dw) alongside its biotransformation product methyl-triclosan (20-29 ng/g dw). Also, PE-MPs were detected on biofilms (168-292 MP/cm2), but they had no significant influence on the bioaccumulation and biotransformation of TCS. A moderate shift in bacterial community composition was driven by TCS, regardless of PE-MPs co-exposure (e.g., increased relative abundance of Sphingomonadaceae family). Additionally, Yeff and EPS content were significantly disrupted in TCS-exposed biofilms. Therefore, the most remarkable effects on river biofilms were related to the antimicrobial TCS, whereas single PE-MPs exposure did not alter any of the evaluated parameters. These results demonstrate that biofilms might act as environmental sink of MPs. Although no interaction between PE-MPs and TCS was observed, the possible indirect impact of other MPs-adsorbed contaminants on biofilms should be further assessed.
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Affiliation(s)
- J M Castaño-Ortiz
- Catalan Institute for Water Research (ICRA-CERCA), C/ Emili Grahit 101, 17003, Girona, Spain; University of Girona, Girona, Spain
| | - F Romero
- Catalan Institute for Water Research (ICRA-CERCA), C/ Emili Grahit 101, 17003, Girona, Spain; University of Girona, Girona, Spain; Plant-Soil Interactions group, Agroscope, 8046, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - L Cojoc
- Catalan Institute for Water Research (ICRA-CERCA), C/ Emili Grahit 101, 17003, Girona, Spain; University of Girona, Girona, Spain
| | - D Barceló
- Catalan Institute for Water Research (ICRA-CERCA), C/ Emili Grahit 101, 17003, Girona, Spain; University of Girona, Girona, Spain; IDAEA-CSIC, Department of Environmental Chemistry, C/ Jordi Girona 18-26, 08034, Barcelona, Spain
| | - J L Balcázar
- Catalan Institute for Water Research (ICRA-CERCA), C/ Emili Grahit 101, 17003, Girona, Spain; University of Girona, Girona, Spain
| | - S Rodríguez-Mozaz
- Catalan Institute for Water Research (ICRA-CERCA), C/ Emili Grahit 101, 17003, Girona, Spain; University of Girona, Girona, Spain
| | - L H M L M Santos
- Catalan Institute for Water Research (ICRA-CERCA), C/ Emili Grahit 101, 17003, Girona, Spain; University of Girona, Girona, Spain.
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Madhogaria B, Banerjee S, Kundu A, Dhak P. Efficacy of new generation biosorbents for the sustainable treatment of antibiotic residues and antibiotic resistance genes from polluted waste effluent. INFECTIOUS MEDICINE 2024; 3:100092. [PMID: 38586544 PMCID: PMC10998275 DOI: 10.1016/j.imj.2024.100092] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/10/2023] [Revised: 12/01/2023] [Accepted: 12/12/2023] [Indexed: 04/09/2024]
Abstract
Antimicrobials are frequently used in both humans and animals for the treatment of bacterially-generated illnesses. Antibiotic usage has increased for more than 40% from last 15 years globally per day in both human populations and farm animals leading to the large-scale discharge of antibiotic residues into wastewater. Most antibiotics end up in sewer systems, either directly from industry or healthcare systems, or indirectly from humans and animals after being partially metabolized or broken down following consumption. To prevent additional antibiotic compound pollution, which eventually impacts on the spread of antibiotic resistance, it is crucial to remove antibiotic residues from wastewater. Antibiotic accumulation and antibiotic resistance genes cannot be effectively and efficiently eliminated by conventional sewage treatment plants. Because of their high energy requirements and operating costs, many of the available technologies are not feasible. However, the biosorption method, which uses low-cost biomass as the biosorbent, is an alternative technique to potentially address these problems. An extensive literature survey focusing on developments in the field was conducted using English language electronic databases, such as PubMed, Google Scholar, Pubag, Google books, and ResearchGate, to understand the relative value of the available antibiotic removal methods. The predominant techniques for eliminating antibiotic residues from wastewater were categorized and defined by example. The approaches were contrasted, and the benefits and drawbacks were highlighted. Additionally, we included a few antibiotics whose removal from aquatic environments has been the subject of extensive research. Lastly, a few representative publications were identified that provide specific information on the removal rates attained by each technique. This review provides evidence that biosorption of antibiotic residues from biological waste using natural biosorbent materials is an affordable and effective technique for eliminating antibiotic residues from wastewater.
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Affiliation(s)
- Barkha Madhogaria
- Department of Microbiology, Techno India University, West Bengal, EM-4 Sector-V, Salt Lake City, Kolkata 700091, West Bengal, India
| | - Sangeeta Banerjee
- Department of Microbiology, Techno India University, West Bengal, EM-4 Sector-V, Salt Lake City, Kolkata 700091, West Bengal, India
- Department of Chemistry, Techno India University, West Bengal, EM-4 Sector-V, Salt Lake City, Kolkata 700091, West Bengal, India
| | - Atreyee Kundu
- Department of Microbiology, Techno India University, West Bengal, EM-4 Sector-V, Salt Lake City, Kolkata 700091, West Bengal, India
| | - Prasanta Dhak
- Department of Chemistry, Techno India University, West Bengal, EM-4 Sector-V, Salt Lake City, Kolkata 700091, West Bengal, India
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Perez-Bou L, Gonzalez-Martinez A, Gonzalez-Lopez J, Correa-Galeote D. Promising bioprocesses for the efficient removal of antibiotics and antibiotic-resistance genes from urban and hospital wastewaters: Potentialities of aerobic granular systems. ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION (BARKING, ESSEX : 1987) 2024; 342:123115. [PMID: 38086508 DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2023.123115] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2023] [Revised: 11/07/2023] [Accepted: 12/05/2023] [Indexed: 12/17/2023]
Abstract
The use, overuse, and improper use of antibiotics have resulted in higher levels of antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB) and antibiotic-resistance genes (ARGs), which have profoundly disturbed the equilibrium of the environment. Furthermore, once antibiotic agents are excreted in urine and feces, these substances often can reach wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), in which improper treatments have been highlighted as the main reason for stronger dissemination of antibiotics, ARB, and ARGs to the receiving bodies. Hence, achieving better antibiotic removal capacities in WWTPs is proposed as an adequate approach to limit the spread of antibiotics, ARB, and ARGs into the environment. In this review, we highlight hospital wastewater (WW) as a critical hotspot for the dissemination of antibiotic resistance due to its high level of antibiotics and pathogens. Hence, monitoring the composition and structure of the bacterial communities related to hospital WW is a key factor in controlling the spread of ARGs. In addition, we discuss the advantages and drawbacks of the current biological WW treatments regarding the antibiotic-resistance phenomenon. Widely used conventional activated sludge technology has proved to be ineffective in mitigating the dissemination of ARB and ARGs to the environment. However, aerobic granular sludge (AGS) technology is a promising technology-with broad adaptability and excellent performance-that could successfully reduce antibiotics, ARB, and ARGs in the generated effluents. We also outline the main operational parameters involved in mitigating antibiotics, ARB, and ARGs in WWTPs. In this regard, WW operation under long hydraulic and solid retention times allows better removal of antibiotics, ARB, and ARGs independently of the WW technology employed. Finally, we address the current knowledge of the adsorption and degradation of antibiotics and their importance in removing ARB and ARGs. Notably, AGS can enhance the removal of antibiotics, ARB, and ARGs due to the complex microbial metabolism within the granular biomass.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lizandra Perez-Bou
- Microbiology Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Granada, Granada, Andalucía, Spain; Microbiology and Environmental Technology Section, Institute of Water Research, University of Granada, Granada, Andalucía, Spain; Microbial Biotechnology Group, Microbiology and Virology Department, Faculty of Biology, University of Havana, Cuba
| | - Alejandro Gonzalez-Martinez
- Microbiology Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Granada, Granada, Andalucía, Spain; Microbiology and Environmental Technology Section, Institute of Water Research, University of Granada, Granada, Andalucía, Spain
| | - Jesus Gonzalez-Lopez
- Microbiology Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Granada, Granada, Andalucía, Spain; Microbiology and Environmental Technology Section, Institute of Water Research, University of Granada, Granada, Andalucía, Spain
| | - David Correa-Galeote
- Microbiology Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Granada, Granada, Andalucía, Spain; Microbiology and Environmental Technology Section, Institute of Water Research, University of Granada, Granada, Andalucía, Spain.
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8
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Liu Y, Smith W, Gebrewold M, Wang X, Simpson SL, Bivins A, Ahmed W. Comparison of concentration and extraction workflows for qPCR quantification of intI1 and vanA in untreated wastewater. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2023; 903:166442. [PMID: 37604373 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.166442] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/14/2023] [Revised: 08/17/2023] [Accepted: 08/18/2023] [Indexed: 08/23/2023]
Abstract
Quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) measurement of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in untreated municipal wastewater may prove useful in combating the antimicrobial resistance crisis. However, harmonizing and optimizing qPCR-based workflows is essential to facilitate comparisons across studies, and includes achieving highly-effective ARG capture through efficient concentration and extraction procedures. In the current study, combinations of sample volume, membrane types and DNA extraction kits within filtration and centrifugation-based workflows were used to quantify 16S ribosomal RNA (16S rRNA), class 1 integron-integrase gene (intI1) and an ARG encoding resistance to vancomycin (vanA) in untreated wastewater sampled from three wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). Highly abundant 16S rRNA and intI1 were detected in 100 % of samples from all three WWTPs using both 2 and 20 mL sample volumes, while lower prevalence vanA was only detected when using the 20 mL volume. When filtering 2 mL of wastewater, workflows with 0.20-/0.40-μm polycarbonate (PC) membranes generally yielded greater concentrations of the three targets than workflows with 0.22-/0.45-μm mixed cellulose ester (MCE) membranes. The improved performance was diminished when the sample volume was increased to 20 mL. Consistently greater concentrations of 16S rRNA, intI1 and vanA were yielded by filtration-based workflows using PC membranes combined with a DNeasy PowerWater (DPW) Kit, regardless of the sample volume used, and centrifugation-based workflows with DNeasy Blood & Tissue Kit for 2-mL wastewater extractions. Within the filtration-based workflows, the DPW kit yielded more detection and quantifiable results for less abundant vanA than the DNeasy PowerSoil Pro Kit and FastDNA™ SPIN Kit for Soil. These findings indicate that the performance of qPCR-based workflows for surveillance of ARGs in wastewater varies across targets, sample volumes, concentration methods and extraction kits. Workflows must be carefully considered and validated considering the target ARGs to be monitored.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yawen Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, College of the Environment & Ecology, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361102, China; CSIRO Environment, Ecosciences Precinct, 41 Boggo Road, Dutton Park, QLD 4102, Australia
| | - Wendy Smith
- CSIRO Environment, Ecosciences Precinct, 41 Boggo Road, Dutton Park, QLD 4102, Australia
| | - Metasebia Gebrewold
- CSIRO Environment, Ecosciences Precinct, 41 Boggo Road, Dutton Park, QLD 4102, Australia
| | - Xinhong Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, College of the Environment & Ecology, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361102, China
| | | | - Aaron Bivins
- Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70809, USA
| | - Warish Ahmed
- CSIRO Environment, Ecosciences Precinct, 41 Boggo Road, Dutton Park, QLD 4102, Australia.
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Teixeira AM, Vaz-Moreira I, Calderón-Franco D, Weissbrodt D, Purkrtova S, Gajdos S, Dottorini G, Nielsen PH, Khalifa L, Cytryn E, Bartacek J, Manaia CM. Candidate biomarkers of antibiotic resistance for the monitoring of wastewater and the downstream environment. WATER RESEARCH 2023; 247:120761. [PMID: 37918195 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2023.120761] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/05/2023] [Revised: 10/17/2023] [Accepted: 10/18/2023] [Indexed: 11/04/2023]
Abstract
Urban wastewater treatment plants (UWTPs) are essential for reducing the pollutants load and protecting water bodies. However, wastewater catchment areas and UWTPs emit continuously antibiotic resistant bacteria (ARB) and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), with recognized impacts on the downstream environments. Recently, the European Commission recommended to monitor antibiotic resistance in UWTPs serving more than 100 000 population equivalents. Antibiotic resistance monitoring in environmental samples can be challenging. The expected complexity of these systems can jeopardize the interpretation capacity regarding, for instance, wastewater treatment efficiency, impacts of environmental contamination, or risks due to human exposure. Simplified monitoring frameworks will be essential for the successful implementation of analytical procedures, data analysis, and data sharing. This study aimed to test a set of biomarkers representative of ARG contamination, selected based on their frequent human association and, simultaneously, rare presence in pristine environments. In addition to the 16S rRNA gene, ten potential biomarkers (intI1, sul1, ermB, ermF, aph(3'')-Ib, qacEΔ1, uidA, mefC, tetX, and crAssphage) were monitored in DNA extracts (n = 116) from raw wastewater, activated sludge, treated wastewater, and surface water (upstream and downstream of UWTPs) samples collected in the Czech Republic, Denmark, Israel, the Netherlands, and Portugal. Each biomarker was sensitive enough to measure decreases (on average by up to 2.5 log-units gene copy/mL) from raw wastewater to surface water, with variations in the same order of magnitude as for the 16S rRNA gene. The use of the 10 biomarkers allowed the typing of water samples whose origin or quality could be predicted in a blind test. The results show that, based on appropriate biomarkers, qPCR can be used for a cost-effective and technically accessible approach to monitoring wastewater and the downstream environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- A Margarida Teixeira
- CBQF - Centro de Biotecnologia e Química Fina - Laboratório Associado, Escola Superior de Biotecnologia, Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Rua de Diogo Botelho 1327, Porto 4169-005, Portugal
| | - Ivone Vaz-Moreira
- CBQF - Centro de Biotecnologia e Química Fina - Laboratório Associado, Escola Superior de Biotecnologia, Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Rua de Diogo Botelho 1327, Porto 4169-005, Portugal
| | - David Calderón-Franco
- Department of Biotechnology, Environmental Biotechnology Section, Delft University of Technology, van der Maasweg 9, Delft, HZ 2629, the Netherlands
| | - David Weissbrodt
- Department of Biotechnology, Environmental Biotechnology Section, Delft University of Technology, van der Maasweg 9, Delft, HZ 2629, the Netherlands; Department of Biotechnology and Food Science, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim 7034, Norway
| | - Sabina Purkrtova
- Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Faculty of Food and Biochemical Technology, University of Chemistry and Technology Prague, 5 Technická, Prague 166 28, Czech Republic
| | - Stanislav Gajdos
- Department of Water Technology and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Environmental Technology, University of Chemistry and Technology Prague, 5 Technická, Prague 166 28, Czech Republic
| | - Giulia Dottorini
- Department of Chemistry and Bioscience, Center for Microbial Communities, Aalborg University, Aalborg 9220, Denmark
| | - Per Halkjær Nielsen
- Department of Chemistry and Bioscience, Center for Microbial Communities, Aalborg University, Aalborg 9220, Denmark
| | - Leron Khalifa
- Institute of Soil, Water and Environmental Sciences, The Volcani Institute, Agricultural Research Organization, P.O Box 15159, Rishon Lezion 7528809, Israel
| | - Eddie Cytryn
- Institute of Soil, Water and Environmental Sciences, The Volcani Institute, Agricultural Research Organization, P.O Box 15159, Rishon Lezion 7528809, Israel
| | - Jan Bartacek
- Department of Water Technology and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Environmental Technology, University of Chemistry and Technology Prague, 5 Technická, Prague 166 28, Czech Republic
| | - Célia M Manaia
- CBQF - Centro de Biotecnologia e Química Fina - Laboratório Associado, Escola Superior de Biotecnologia, Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Rua de Diogo Botelho 1327, Porto 4169-005, Portugal.
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10
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Wang Z, Fu L, Gu JD, Deng S, Huang C, Luo L. The factors controlling antibiotic resistance genes in different treatment processes of mainstream full-scale wastewater treatment plants. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2023; 900:165815. [PMID: 37506903 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.165815] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2023] [Revised: 07/22/2023] [Accepted: 07/24/2023] [Indexed: 07/30/2023]
Abstract
The alteration of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in wastewater has been less studied in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), making it difficult to assess ARGs' spreading risk comprehensively. Therefore, this study investigated the distribution and reduction of ARGs in the main process (Anaerobic-Anoxic-Oxic with Membrane Bio-Reactor (A2/O + MBR), Oxidation Ditch with sedimentation (OD), and Cyclic Activated Sludge System (CASS) with sedimentation) and disinfection process (Ultra-violet and Chlorination) of full-scale WWTPs. The wastewater was sampled before and after the different main process and disinfection process; then, the diversity and abundance of ARGs and mobile genetic genes (MGEs, helping the horizontal transfer of ARGs) in wastewater of different treatment stages were determined by a real-time high-throughput quantitative PCR (HT-qPCR) system. It was found that similar influents would result in similar ARGs in wastewater samples, independent of the treatment processes used. The main process could effectively reduce the abundance of ARGs and MGEs by 1.80-2.12 and 1.46-2.18 logarithm units, respectively. The main factors affecting ARGs were mainly wastewater quality index, especially COD, and MGEs like transposase and insertion sequences which were significantly associated with 66 and 48 subtypes of ARGs, respectively. Moreover, disinfection was more effective than the main process in inactivating antibiotic resistance bacteria (ARB), and the removal rate of ARB by disinfection reached 43.53 %-100 %. However, there are still risks of ARB regeneration (up to 4.22 log units) in the effluent of WWTPs. In the future, nutrient removal and disinfection process improvement is necessary to benefit ARG and ARB removal.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zimu Wang
- College of Environmental Sciences, Sichuan Agricultural University, 211 Huimin Road, Chengdu 611130, PR China
| | - Li Fu
- College of Environmental Sciences, Sichuan Agricultural University, 211 Huimin Road, Chengdu 611130, PR China
| | - Ji-Dong Gu
- Environmental Science and Engineering, Guangdong Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, 241 Daxue Road, Shantou, Guangdong 515063, PR China
| | - Shihuai Deng
- College of Environmental Sciences, Sichuan Agricultural University, 211 Huimin Road, Chengdu 611130, PR China
| | - Chengyi Huang
- College of Environmental Sciences, Sichuan Agricultural University, 211 Huimin Road, Chengdu 611130, PR China
| | - Ling Luo
- College of Environmental Sciences, Sichuan Agricultural University, 211 Huimin Road, Chengdu 611130, PR China.
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11
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Feng Y, Sun JW, Shi WW, Duan JL, Sun XD, Feng LJ, Wang Q, Gan YD, Yuan XZ. Microplastics exhibit accumulation and horizontal transfer of antibiotic resistance genes. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT 2023; 336:117632. [PMID: 36921474 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.117632] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/26/2022] [Revised: 02/02/2023] [Accepted: 02/27/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
Although the fates of microplastics (0.1-5 mm) in marine environments and freshwater are increasingly studied, little is known about their vector effect in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). Previous studies have evaluated the accumulation of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) on microplastics, but there is no direct evidence for the selection and horizontal transfer of ARGs on different microplastics in WWTPs. Here, we show biofilm formation as well as bacterial community and ARGs in these biofilms grown on four kinds of microplastics via incubation in the aerobic and anaerobic tanks of a WWTP. Microplastics showed differential capacities for bacteria and ARGs enrichment, differing from those of the culture environment. Furthermore, ARGs in microplastic biofilms were horizontally transferred at frequencies higher than those in water samples in both tanks. Therefore, microplastics in WWTPs can act as substrates for horizontal transfer of ARGs, potentially causing a great harm to the ecological environment and adversely affecting human health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yue Feng
- Shandong Key Laboratory of Water Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shandong University, Qingdao, Shandong 266237, PR China; College of Mining and Safety Engineering, Shandong University of Science and Technology, Qingdao, Shandong 266590, PR China
| | - Jia-Wen Sun
- Shandong Key Laboratory of Water Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shandong University, Qingdao, Shandong 266237, PR China
| | - Wei-Wei Shi
- Center for Soil Pollution Control of Shandong, Jinan, Shandong 250012, PR China
| | - Jian-Lu Duan
- Shandong Key Laboratory of Water Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shandong University, Qingdao, Shandong 266237, PR China
| | - Xiao-Dong Sun
- Shandong Key Laboratory of Water Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shandong University, Qingdao, Shandong 266237, PR China
| | - Li-Juan Feng
- Shandong Key Laboratory of Water Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shandong University, Qingdao, Shandong 266237, PR China
| | - Qian Wang
- Shandong Key Laboratory of Water Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shandong University, Qingdao, Shandong 266237, PR China
| | - Yu-Dong Gan
- Department of Orthopedics, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong 250063, PR China.
| | - Xian-Zheng Yuan
- Shandong Key Laboratory of Water Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shandong University, Qingdao, Shandong 266237, PR China.
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12
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Abia ALK, Baloyi T, Traore AN, Potgieter N. The African Wastewater Resistome: Identifying Knowledge Gaps to Inform Future Research Directions. Antibiotics (Basel) 2023; 12:805. [PMID: 37237708 PMCID: PMC10215879 DOI: 10.3390/antibiotics12050805] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2023] [Revised: 04/20/2023] [Accepted: 04/21/2023] [Indexed: 05/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a growing global public health threat. Furthermore, wastewater is increasingly recognized as a significant environmental reservoir for AMR. Wastewater is a complex mixture of organic and inorganic compounds, including antibiotics and other antimicrobial agents, discharged from hospitals, pharmaceutical industries, and households. Therefore, wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are critical components of urban infrastructure that play a vital role in protecting public health and the environment. However, they can also be a source of AMR. WWTPs serve as a point of convergence for antibiotics and resistant bacteria from various sources, creating an environment that favours the selection and spread of AMR. The effluent from WWTPs can also contaminate surface freshwater and groundwater resources, which can subsequently spread resistant bacteria to the wider environment. In Africa, the prevalence of AMR in wastewater is of particular concern due to the inadequate sanitation and wastewater treatment facilities, coupled with the overuse and misuse of antibiotics in healthcare and agriculture. Therefore, the present review evaluated studies that reported on wastewater in Africa between 2012 and 2022 to identify knowledge gaps and propose future perspectives, informing the use of wastewater-based epidemiology as a proxy for determining the resistome circulating within the continent. The study found that although wastewater resistome studies have increased over time in Africa, this is not the case in every country, with most studies conducted in South Africa. Furthermore, the study identified, among others, methodology and reporting gaps, driven by a lack of skills. Finally, the review suggests solutions including standardisation of protocols in wastewater resistome works and an urgent need to build genomic skills within the continent to handle the big data generated from these studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Akebe Luther King Abia
- One Health Research Group, Biochemistry & Microbiology Department, University of Venda, Private Bag X5050, Thohoyandou 0950, South Africa; (T.B.); (A.N.T.)
- Environmental Research Foundation, Westville 3630, South Africa
| | - Themba Baloyi
- One Health Research Group, Biochemistry & Microbiology Department, University of Venda, Private Bag X5050, Thohoyandou 0950, South Africa; (T.B.); (A.N.T.)
| | - Afsatou N. Traore
- One Health Research Group, Biochemistry & Microbiology Department, University of Venda, Private Bag X5050, Thohoyandou 0950, South Africa; (T.B.); (A.N.T.)
| | - Natasha Potgieter
- One Health Research Group, Biochemistry & Microbiology Department, University of Venda, Private Bag X5050, Thohoyandou 0950, South Africa; (T.B.); (A.N.T.)
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13
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Liang Z, Yao J, Ma H, Peng W, Xia X, Chen Y. A sludge bulking wastewater treatment plant with an oxidation ditch-denitrification filter in a cold region: bacterial community composition and antibiotic resistance genes. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH INTERNATIONAL 2023; 30:33767-33779. [PMID: 36495431 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-022-24591-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/17/2022] [Accepted: 12/01/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Bacterial community structure of activated sludge directly affects the stable operation of WWTPS, and these bacterial communities may carry a variety of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), which is a threat to the public health. This study employed 16S rRNA gene sequencing and metagenomic sequencing to investigate the bacterial community composition and the ARGs in a sludge bulking oxidation ditch-denitrification filter WWTP in a cold region. The results showed that Trichococcus (20.34%), Blautia (7.72%), and Faecalibacterium (3.64%) were the main bacterial genera in the influent. The relative abundances of norank_f_Saprospiraceae and Candidatus_Microthrix reached 10.24% and 8.40%, respectively, in bulking sludge, and those of norank_f_Saprospiraceae and Candidatus_Microthrix decreased to 6.56 and 7.10% after the anaerobic tank, indicating that the anaerobic tank had an inhibitory effect on filamentous bacteria. After 20 mJ/cm2 UV disinfection, about 540 bacterial genera, such as Romboutsia (7.99%), Rhodoferax (7.98%), and Thermomonas (4.13%), could still be detected in the effluent. The ARGs were 345.11 ppm in the influent and 11.20 ppm in the effluent; 17 subtypes, such as sul1, msrE, aadA5, ErmF, and tet(A), could be detected throughout the entire process. These ARG subtypes were persistent ARGs with a high health risk. Network analysis indicated that the changes in filamentous bacteria norank_f_Saprospiraceae abundance mainly contributed to the abundance shift of MexB, and Acinetobacter mainly increased the abundance of drfA1. These results above will provide theoretical support for the sludge bulking and ARGs controls of WWTPs in cold regions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zenghui Liang
- College of Ecology and Environment, Xinjiang University, No. 777 Huarui Street, Shuimogou District, Urumqi, 830017, China
| | - Junqin Yao
- College of Ecology and Environment, Xinjiang University, No. 777 Huarui Street, Shuimogou District, Urumqi, 830017, China.
| | - Huiying Ma
- College of Ecology and Environment, Xinjiang University, No. 777 Huarui Street, Shuimogou District, Urumqi, 830017, China
| | - Wei Peng
- College of Architectural Engineering, Xinjiang University, Urumqi, 830017, China
| | - Xueliang Xia
- Second Wastewater Treatment Plant of Changji, Changji, 831100, China
| | - Yinguang Chen
- College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200092, China
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14
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Chen T, Zhang S, Zhu R, Zhao M, Zhang Y, Wang Y, Liao X, Wu Y, Mi J. Distribution and driving factors of antibiotic resistance genes in treated wastewater from different types of livestock farms. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2022; 849:157837. [PMID: 35934031 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.157837] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/19/2022] [Revised: 07/28/2022] [Accepted: 08/01/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Treated wastewater from livestock farms is an important reservoir for antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), and is a main source of ARGs in the environment. However, the distribution and driving factors of ARGs in treated wastewater from different types of livestock farms are rarely reported. In this study, treated wastewater from 69 large-scale livestock farms of different types, including broiler, layer, and pig farms, was collected, and 11 subtypes of ARGs, 2 mobile genetic elements (MGEs) and bacterial community structure were analyzed. The results revealed detection rates of NDM-1 and mcr-1 of 90 % and 43 %, respectively, and the detection rates of other ARGs were 100 %. The relative abundance of ARGs, such as tetA, tetX and strB, in broiler farms was significantly higher than that in layer farms, but the bacterial α diversity was significantly lower than that in other farm types. Furthermore, although the treatment process had a greater impact on the physicochemical properties of the treated wastewater than the livestock type, livestock type was the main factor affecting the bacterial community in the treated wastewater. The analysis of potential host bacteria of ARGs revealed significant differences in the host bacteria of ARGs in treated wastewater from different types of livestock farms. The host bacteria of ARGs in broiler farms mainly belonged to Actinobacteria, layer farms mainly belonged to Proteobacteria, and pig farms mainly belonged to Firmicutes. Additionally, redundancy analysis showed that the distribution of ARGs may have resulted from the combination of multiple driving factors in different types of livestock farms, among which tnpA and NH4+-N were the main influencing factors. This study revealed multiple driving factors for the distribution of typical ARGs in treated wastewater from different types of livestock farms, providing basic data for the prevention and control of ARG pollution in agricultural environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tao Chen
- Guangdong Provincial Key Lab of Agro-Animal Genomics and Molecular Breeding, College of Animal Science, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, Guangdong, China; Guangdong Laboratory for Lingnan Modern Agriculture, College of Animal Science, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China; National Engineering Research Center for Breeding Swine Industry, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China; Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Tropical Agricultural Environment, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
| | - Shiyu Zhang
- Guangdong Provincial Key Lab of Agro-Animal Genomics and Molecular Breeding, College of Animal Science, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, Guangdong, China; Guangdong Laboratory for Lingnan Modern Agriculture, College of Animal Science, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China; National Engineering Research Center for Breeding Swine Industry, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China; Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Tropical Agricultural Environment, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
| | - Run Zhu
- Guangdong Provincial Key Lab of Agro-Animal Genomics and Molecular Breeding, College of Animal Science, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, Guangdong, China; Guangdong Laboratory for Lingnan Modern Agriculture, College of Animal Science, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China; National Engineering Research Center for Breeding Swine Industry, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China; Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Tropical Agricultural Environment, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
| | - Minxing Zhao
- Guangdong Provincial Key Lab of Agro-Animal Genomics and Molecular Breeding, College of Animal Science, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, Guangdong, China; Guangdong Laboratory for Lingnan Modern Agriculture, College of Animal Science, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China; National Engineering Research Center for Breeding Swine Industry, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China; Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Tropical Agricultural Environment, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
| | - Yu Zhang
- Guangdong Provincial Key Lab of Agro-Animal Genomics and Molecular Breeding, College of Animal Science, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, Guangdong, China; Guangdong Laboratory for Lingnan Modern Agriculture, College of Animal Science, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China; National Engineering Research Center for Breeding Swine Industry, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China; Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Tropical Agricultural Environment, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
| | - Yan Wang
- Guangdong Provincial Key Lab of Agro-Animal Genomics and Molecular Breeding, College of Animal Science, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, Guangdong, China; Guangdong Laboratory for Lingnan Modern Agriculture, College of Animal Science, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China; National Engineering Research Center for Breeding Swine Industry, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China; Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Tropical Agricultural Environment, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China; Guangdong Engineering Technology Research Center of Harmless Treatment and Resource Utilization of Livestock Waste, Yunfu, Xinxing 527400, China
| | - Xindi Liao
- Guangdong Provincial Key Lab of Agro-Animal Genomics and Molecular Breeding, College of Animal Science, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, Guangdong, China; Guangdong Laboratory for Lingnan Modern Agriculture, College of Animal Science, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China; National Engineering Research Center for Breeding Swine Industry, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China; Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Tropical Agricultural Environment, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China; Guangdong Engineering Technology Research Center of Harmless Treatment and Resource Utilization of Livestock Waste, Yunfu, Xinxing 527400, China
| | - Yinbao Wu
- Guangdong Provincial Key Lab of Agro-Animal Genomics and Molecular Breeding, College of Animal Science, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, Guangdong, China; Guangdong Laboratory for Lingnan Modern Agriculture, College of Animal Science, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China; National Engineering Research Center for Breeding Swine Industry, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China; Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Tropical Agricultural Environment, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China; Guangdong Engineering Technology Research Center of Harmless Treatment and Resource Utilization of Livestock Waste, Yunfu, Xinxing 527400, China.
| | - Jiandui Mi
- Guangdong Provincial Key Lab of Agro-Animal Genomics and Molecular Breeding, College of Animal Science, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, Guangdong, China; Guangdong Laboratory for Lingnan Modern Agriculture, College of Animal Science, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China; National Engineering Research Center for Breeding Swine Industry, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China; Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Tropical Agricultural Environment, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China; Guangdong Engineering Technology Research Center of Harmless Treatment and Resource Utilization of Livestock Waste, Yunfu, Xinxing 527400, China.
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15
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Ogunlaja A, Ogunlaja OO, Olukanni OD, Taylor GO, Olorunnisola CG, Dougnon VT, Mousse W, Fatta-Kassinos D, Msagati TAM, Unuabonah EI. Antibiotic resistomes and their chemical residues in aquatic environments in Africa. ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION (BARKING, ESSEX : 1987) 2022; 312:119783. [PMID: 35863703 DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2022.119783] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/28/2022] [Revised: 07/10/2022] [Accepted: 07/11/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
The aquatic environment is a hotspot for the transfer of antibiotic resistance to humans and animals. Several reviews have put together research efforts on the presence and distribution of antibiotic resistant bacteria (ARB), antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), and antibiotic chemical residue (ACRs) in food, hospital wastewater, and even in other aquatic environments. However, these reports are largely focused on data from developed countries, while data from developing countries and especially those in Africa, are only marginally discussed. This review is the first effort that distills information on the presence and distribution of ARGs and ACRs in the African aquatic environments (2012-2021). This review provides critical information on efforts put into the study of ARB, ARGs, and ACRs in aquatic environments in Africa through the lens of the different sub-regions in the continent. The picture provided is compared with those from some other continents in the world. It turns out that the large economies in Africa (South Africa, Nigeria, Tunisia, Kenya) all have a few reports of ARB and ARGs in their aquatic environment while smaller economies in the continent could barely provide reports of these in their aquatic environment (in most cases no report was found) even though they have some reports on resistomes from clinical studies. Interestingly, the frequency of these reports of ARB and ARGs in aquatic environments in Africa suggests that the continent is ahead of the South American continent but behind Europe and Asia in relation to providing information on these contaminants. Common ARGs found in African aquatic environment encode resistance to sulfonamide, tetracycline, β-lactam, and macrolide classes of antibiotics. The efforts and studies from African scientists in eliminating ARB and ARGs from the aquatic environment in Africa are also highlighted. Overall, this document is a ready source of credible information for scientists, policy makers, governments, and regional bodies on ARB, ARGs, and ACRs in aquatic environments in Africa. Hopefully, the information provided in this review will inspire some necessary responses from all stakeholders in the water quality sector in Africa to put in more effort into providing more scientific evidence of the presence of ARB, ARGs, and ACRs in their aquatic environment and seek more efficient ways to handle them to curtail the spread of antibiotic resistance among the population in the continent. This will in turn, put the continent on the right path to meeting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals #3 and #6, which at the moment, appears to be largely missed by most countries in the continent.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aemere Ogunlaja
- African Centre of Excellence for Water and Environmental Research (ACEWATER), Redeemer's University, P.M.B 230, Ede, 232101, Osun State, Nigeria; Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Redeemer's University, P.M.B 230, Ede, Osun State, Nigeria.
| | - Olumuyiwa O Ogunlaja
- African Centre of Excellence for Water and Environmental Research (ACEWATER), Redeemer's University, P.M.B 230, Ede, 232101, Osun State, Nigeria; Department of Chemical Sciences, Faculty of Natural and Applied Sciences, Lead City University, Ibadan, Nigeria
| | - Olumide D Olukanni
- African Centre of Excellence for Water and Environmental Research (ACEWATER), Redeemer's University, P.M.B 230, Ede, 232101, Osun State, Nigeria; Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences, Redeemer's University, P.M.B. 230, Ede, Nigeria
| | - Gloria O Taylor
- African Centre of Excellence for Water and Environmental Research (ACEWATER), Redeemer's University, P.M.B 230, Ede, 232101, Osun State, Nigeria; Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Redeemer's University, P.M.B 230, Ede, Osun State, Nigeria
| | - Chidinma G Olorunnisola
- African Centre of Excellence for Water and Environmental Research (ACEWATER), Redeemer's University, P.M.B 230, Ede, 232101, Osun State, Nigeria; Department of Chemical Sciences, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Redeemer's University, P.M.B 230, Ede, Osun State, Nigeria
| | - Victorien T Dougnon
- Research Unit in Applied Microbiology and Pharmacology of Natural Substances, Polytechnic School of Abomey-Calavi, University of Abomey-Calavi, Benin
| | - Wassiyath Mousse
- Research Unit in Applied Microbiology and Pharmacology of Natural Substances, Polytechnic School of Abomey-Calavi, University of Abomey-Calavi, Benin
| | - Despo Fatta-Kassinos
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Nireas-International Water Research Centre, School of Engineering, University of Cyprus, PO Box 20537, 1678 Nicosia, Cyprus
| | - Titus A M Msagati
- Institute for Nanotechnology and Water Sustainability (iNanoWS), College of Science Engineering and Technology, University of South Africa, South Africa
| | - Emmanuel I Unuabonah
- African Centre of Excellence for Water and Environmental Research (ACEWATER), Redeemer's University, P.M.B 230, Ede, 232101, Osun State, Nigeria; Department of Chemical Sciences, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Redeemer's University, P.M.B 230, Ede, Osun State, Nigeria
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16
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Waśko I, Kozińska A, Kotlarska E, Baraniak A. Clinically Relevant β-Lactam Resistance Genes in Wastewater Treatment Plants. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2022; 19:ijerph192113829. [PMID: 36360709 PMCID: PMC9657204 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph192113829] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2022] [Revised: 10/20/2022] [Accepted: 10/20/2022] [Indexed: 05/17/2023]
Abstract
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the largest global concerns due to its influence in multiple areas, which is consistent with One Health's concept of close interconnections between people, animals, plants, and their shared environments. Antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB) and antibiotic-resistance genes (ARGs) circulate constantly in various niches, sediments, water sources, soil, and wastes of the animal and plant sectors, and is linked to human activities. Sewage of different origins gets to the wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), where ARB and ARG removal efficiency is still insufficient, leading to their transmission to discharge points and further dissemination. Thus, WWTPs are believed to be reservoirs of ARGs and the source of spreading AMR. According to a World Health Organization report, the most critical pathogens for public health include Gram-negative bacteria resistant to third-generation cephalosporins and carbapenems (last-choice drugs), which represent β-lactams, the most widely used antibiotics. Therefore, this paper aimed to present the available research data for ARGs in WWTPs that confer resistance to β-lactam antibiotics, with a particular emphasis on clinically important life-threatening mechanisms of resistance, including extended-spectrum β-lactamases (ESBLs) and carbapenemases (KPC, NDM).
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Affiliation(s)
- Izabela Waśko
- Department of Biomedical Research, National Medicines Institute, Chelmska 30/34, 00-725 Warsaw, Poland
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +48-228-410-623
| | - Aleksandra Kozińska
- Department of Biomedical Research, National Medicines Institute, Chelmska 30/34, 00-725 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Ewa Kotlarska
- Genetics and Marine Biotechnology Department, Institute of Oceanology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Powstancow Warszawy 55, 81-712 Sopot, Poland
| | - Anna Baraniak
- Department of Biomedical Research, National Medicines Institute, Chelmska 30/34, 00-725 Warsaw, Poland
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17
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Leroy-Freitas D, Machado EC, Torres-Franco AF, Dias MF, Leal CD, Araújo JC. Exploring the microbiome, antibiotic resistance genes, mobile genetic element, and potential resistant pathogens in municipal wastewater treatment plants in Brazil. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2022; 842:156773. [PMID: 35724791 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.156773] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/15/2022] [Revised: 06/05/2022] [Accepted: 06/14/2022] [Indexed: 05/28/2023]
Abstract
Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) have been widely investigated in Europe, Asia and North America regarding the occurrence and fate of antibiotic resistance (AR) elements, such as antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), mobile genetic elements (MGEs) and antibiotic resistant bacteria and pathogens. However, monitoring data about AR elements in municipal WWTPs in Brazil are scarce. This study investigated the abundance of intI1, five ARGs (sul1, tetA, blaTEM, ermB and qnrB) and 16S rRNA in raw and treated wastewater of three WWTPs, using different sewage treatments named CAS (Conventional activated sludge), UASB/BTF (UASB followed by biological trickling filter) and MAS/UV (modified activated sludge with UV disinfection stage). Bacterial diversity and the presence of potentially pathogenic groups were also evaluated, and associations between genetic markers and the bacterial populations were presented. All WWTPs decreased the loads of genetic markers finally discharged to receiving water bodies and showed no evidence of being hotspots for antimicrobial resistance amplification in wastewater, since the abundances of intI1 and ARGs within the bacterial population were not increased in the treated effluents. UASB/BTF showed a similar performance to that of the CAS and MAS/UV, reinforcing the sanitary and environmental advantages of this biological treatment, widely applied for wastewater treatment in warm climate regions. Bacterial diversity and richness increased after treatments, and bacterial communities in wastewater samples differed due to catchment areas and treatment typologies. Potential pathogenic population underwent considerable decrease after the treatments; however, strong significant correlations with intI1 and ARGs revealed potential multidrug-resistant pathogenic bacteria (Aeromonas, Arcobacter, Enterobacter, Escherichia-Shigella, Stenotrophomonas and Streptococcus) in the treated effluents, although in reduced relative abundances. These are contributive results for understanding the fate of ARGs, MGEs and potential pathogenic bacteria after wastewater treatments, which might support actions to mitigate their release into Brazilian aquatic environments in the near future.
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Affiliation(s)
- D Leroy-Freitas
- Department of Sanitary and Environmental Engineering, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte 31270-010, Brazil
| | - E C Machado
- Department of Sanitary and Environmental Engineering, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte 31270-010, Brazil
| | - A F Torres-Franco
- Department of Sanitary and Environmental Engineering, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte 31270-010, Brazil; Institute of Sustainable Processes, Valladolid University, Dr. Mergelina s/n., Valladolid 47011, Spain
| | - M F Dias
- Department of Sanitary and Environmental Engineering, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte 31270-010, Brazil
| | - C D Leal
- Department of Sanitary and Environmental Engineering, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte 31270-010, Brazil
| | - J C Araújo
- Department of Sanitary and Environmental Engineering, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte 31270-010, Brazil.
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Czatzkowska M, Wolak I, Harnisz M, Korzeniewska E. Impact of Anthropogenic Activities on the Dissemination of ARGs in the Environment-A Review. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2022; 19:ijerph191912853. [PMID: 36232152 PMCID: PMC9564893 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph191912853] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/25/2022] [Revised: 09/28/2022] [Accepted: 10/03/2022] [Indexed: 05/07/2023]
Abstract
Over the past few decades, due to the excessive consumption of drugs in human and veterinary medicine, the antimicrobial resistance (AR) of microorganisms has risen considerably across the world, and this trend is predicted to intensify. Many worrying research results indicate the occurrence of pools of AR, both directly related to human activity and environmental factors. The increase of AR in the natural environment is mainly associated with the anthropogenic activity. The dissemination of AR is significantly stimulated by the operation of municipal facilities, such as wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) or landfills, as well as biogas plants, agriculture and farming practices, including animal production and land application of manure. These activities entail a risk to public health by spreading bacteria resistant to antimicrobial products (ARB) and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs). Furthermore, subinhibitory concentrations of antimicrobial substances additionally predispose microbial consortia and resistomes to changes in particular environments that are permeated by these micropollutants. The current state of knowledge on the fate of ARGs, their dissemination and the complexity of the AR phenomenon in relation to anthropogenic activity is inadequate. This review summarizes the state-of-the-art knowledge on AR in the environment, in particular focusing on AR spread in an anthropogenically altered environment and related environmental consequences.
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Wang Y, Han Y, Li L, Liu J, Yan X. Distribution, sources, and potential risks of antibiotic resistance genes in wastewater treatment plant: A review. ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION (BARKING, ESSEX : 1987) 2022; 310:119870. [PMID: 35921944 DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2022.119870] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2022] [Revised: 07/15/2022] [Accepted: 07/25/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Irrational use of antibiotics produces a large number of antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB) and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs). Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) act as important sources and sinks of ARGs, and play an important role in their generation, treatment, and dissemination. This study summarizes the types, concentrations, and factors of ARGs in WWTPs, investigates the sources of ARGs in wastewater, compares the removal efficiencies of different treatment processes on ARGs, and analyzes the potential risks of ARGs accumulation in effluent, sludge and their emission into the air. The results show that the main ARGs detected in the influent of WWTPs are the genes resistant to macrolides (ermB, ermF), tetracyclines (tetW, tetA, tetC), sulfonamides (sul1, sul2), and β-lactams (blaOXA, blaTEM). The concentrations of ARGs in the influent of the WWTPs are 2.23 × 102-3.90 × 109 copies/mL. Wastewater quality and microbial community are the dominant factors that affect the distribution characteristics of ARGs. The accumulation of ARGs in effluent, sludge, and aerosols pose potential risks to the regional ecological environment and human health. Based on these results, research trends with respect to ARGs in WWTPs are also prospected.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ying Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Environmental Aquatic Chemistry, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100085, PR China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, PR China.
| | - Yunping Han
- State Key Laboratory of Environmental Aquatic Chemistry, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100085, PR China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, PR China.
| | - Lin Li
- State Key Laboratory of Environmental Aquatic Chemistry, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100085, PR China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, PR China.
| | - Junxin Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Environmental Aquatic Chemistry, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100085, PR China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, PR China.
| | - Xu Yan
- School of Environment, Key Laboratory for Yellow River and Huai River Water Environment and Pollution Control, Ministry of Education, Henan Key Laboratory for Environmental Pollution Control, Henan Normal University, Xinxiang, Henan, 453007, PR China.
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The Resistome of ESKAPEE Pathogens in Untreated and Treated Wastewater: A Polish Case Study. Biomolecules 2022; 12:biom12081160. [PMID: 36009054 PMCID: PMC9405806 DOI: 10.3390/biom12081160] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2022] [Revised: 08/11/2022] [Accepted: 08/19/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
The aim of this study was to quantify ESKAPEE bacteria, genes encoding resistance to antibiotics targeting this group of pathogens, as well as integrase genes in municipal wastewater and river water. Environmental DNA was extracted from the collected samples and used in deep sequencing with the Illumina TruSeq kit. The abundance of bacterial genera and species belonging to the ESKAPEE group, 400 ARGs associated with this microbial group, and three classes of integrase genes were determined. A taxonomic analysis revealed that Acinetobacter was the dominant bacterial genus, whereas Acinetobacter baumannii and Escherichia coli were the dominant bacterial species. The analyzed samples were characterized by the highest concentrations of the following ARGs: blaGES, blaOXA-58, blaTEM, qnrB, and qnrS. Acinetobacter baumannii, E. coli, and genes encoding resistance to β-lactams (blaVEB-1, blaIMP-1, blaGES, blaOXA-58, blaCTX-M, and blaTEM) and fluoroquinolones (qnrS) were detected in samples of river water collected downstream from the wastewater discharge point. The correlation analysis revealed a strong relationship between A. baumannii (bacterial species regarded as an emerging human pathogen) and genes encoding resistance to all tested groups of antimicrobials. The transmission of the studied bacteria (in particular A. baumannii) and ARGs to the aquatic environment poses a public health risk.
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Liguori K, Keenum I, Davis BC, Calarco J, Milligan E, Harwood VJ, Pruden A. Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring of Water Environments: A Framework for Standardized Methods and Quality Control. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2022; 56:9149-9160. [PMID: 35732277 DOI: 10.1080/10643389.2021.2024739] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/24/2023]
Abstract
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a grand societal challenge with important dimensions in the water environment that contribute to its evolution and spread. Environmental monitoring could provide vital information for mitigating the spread of AMR; this includes assessing antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) circulating among human populations, identifying key hotspots for evolution and dissemination of resistance, informing epidemiological and human health risk assessment models, and quantifying removal efficiencies by domestic wastewater infrastructure. However, standardized methods for monitoring AMR in the water environment will be vital to producing the comparable data sets needed to address such questions. Here we sought to establish scientific consensus on a framework for such standardization, evaluating the state of the science and practice of AMR monitoring of wastewater, recycled water, and surface water, through a literature review, survey, and workshop leveraging the expertise of academic, governmental, consulting, and water utility professionals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Krista Liguori
- The Charles Edward Via, Jr., Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia 24060, United States
| | - Ishi Keenum
- The Charles Edward Via, Jr., Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia 24060, United States
| | - Benjamin C Davis
- The Charles Edward Via, Jr., Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia 24060, United States
| | - Jeanette Calarco
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida 33620, United States
| | - Erin Milligan
- The Charles Edward Via, Jr., Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia 24060, United States
| | - Valerie J Harwood
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida 33620, United States
| | - Amy Pruden
- The Charles Edward Via, Jr., Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia 24060, United States
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22
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The effectiveness of silver nanoparticles as a clean-up material for water polluted with bacteria DNA conveying antibiotics resistance genes: Effect of different molar concentrations and competing ions. OPENNANO 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.onano.2022.100060] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
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Ping Q, Zhang Z, Ma L, Yan T, Wang L, Li Y. The prevalence and removal of antibiotic resistance genes in full-scale wastewater treatment plants: Bacterial host, influencing factors and correlation with nitrogen metabolic pathway. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2022; 827:154154. [PMID: 35245555 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.154154] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/28/2021] [Revised: 02/21/2022] [Accepted: 02/22/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
This study investigated the prevalence of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in the influent, effluent, and waste activated sludge (WAS) of eight full-scale municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in Shanghai, China. A comprehensive understanding of the correlation between various influencing factors (characteristics of wastewater and WAS, antibiotics, metals, mobile genetic elements) and ARGs was explored. Among the eight full-scale WWTPs, the Unitank process was inefficient in removing typical ARGs compared with continuous-flow anaerobic-anoxic-aerobic and oxidation ditch processes. Antibiotic was identified as the most influential factor affecting the occurrence of ARGs in wastewater, followed by flow rate and nutrients. Positive correlations were observed between antibiotics and their corresponding ARGs in the influent, while this correlation disappeared in the WAS. Class I integron, wastewater characteristics (nitrogen and flow rate), antibiotics (ofloxacin, sulfamethazine, and erythromycin), metals (Mg, Al, Fe, and Mn) were identified as crucial factors comprehensively affecting the distribution of ARGs in WAS. Dissimilatory nitrate reduction profoundly influenced the fate of ARGs during wastewater treatment processes, and K04561 (norB), K02567 (napA), K00262 (gdhA), K00284 (gltS) were identified as the most significant genes in the nitrogen metabolism pathway (ko00910). This study provides a new perspective for comprehensively understanding the occurrence and dissemination of ARGs in WWTPs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qian Ping
- State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, PR China; Shanghai Institute of Pollution Control and Ecological Security, Shanghai 200092, PR China
| | - Zhipeng Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, PR China
| | - Liping Ma
- School of Ecological and Environmental Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, PR China
| | - Tingting Yan
- State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, PR China
| | - Lin Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, PR China; Shanghai Institute of Pollution Control and Ecological Security, Shanghai 200092, PR China
| | - Yongmei Li
- State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, PR China; Shanghai Institute of Pollution Control and Ecological Security, Shanghai 200092, PR China.
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Sultan I, Siddiqui MT, Gogry FA, Haq QMR. Molecular characterization of resistance determinants and mobile genetic elements of ESBL producing multidrug-resistant bacteria from freshwater lakes in Kashmir, India. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2022; 827:154221. [PMID: 35245551 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.154221] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2021] [Revised: 02/23/2022] [Accepted: 02/25/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Antibiotic resistance conceded as a global concern is a phenomenon that emerged from the bacterial response to the extensive utilization of antimicrobials. The expansion of resistance determinants through horizontal transfer is linked with mobile genetic elements (MGEs) like transposons, insertion sequences, and integrons. Heavy metals also create consequential health hazards. Metal resistance gene in alliance with antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and MGEs is assisting bacteria to attain exalted quantity of resistance. METHODOLOGY The present work was carried out to study ARGs blaCTX-M, AmpC, qnrS, MGEs like ISecp1, TN3, TN21, and Int I by performing PCR and sequencing from Wular and Dal lakes of Kashmir; India. The genetic environment analysis of blaCTX-M-15 was carried out using PCR amplification, and sequencing approach followed by in-silico docking and mutational studies. Co-occurrence of ARGs and HMRGs was determined. Plasmid typing was done using PCR-based replicon typing (PBRT) and conjugation assay was also performed. RESULTS Out of 201 isolates attained from 16 locations, 33 were ESBLs producers. 30 ESBL displaying isolates were perceived positive for CTX-M gene, followed by AmpC (17), qnrS (13), ISecp1 (15), TN3 (11), TN21 (11), Int I (18), and SulI (14). The genetic environment of blaCTX-M-15 was observed as (ISEcp1-blaCTX-M-15-orf477), classical promoter-10 TACAAT and -35 TTGAA was found at the 3' region. The 3D structure of CTX-M-15 and ISEcp1 was generated and CTX-M-15-ISEcp1 (R299L) docking and mutation showed a reduction in hydrogen bonds. Co-occurrence of antibiotics and HMRGs (mer, sil, and ars) was found in 18, 14, and 8 isolates. PBRT analysis showed the presence of Inc. groups- B/O, F, I1, HI1, FIA, HI2, N, FIB, L/M. Molecular analysis of transconjugants showed the successful transfer of ARGs, MGEs, and HMRGs in the E. coli J53 AZR strain. CONCLUSION This study highlights the occurrence of ESBL producing bacteria in the aquatic environment of Kashmir India that can serve as a reservoir of ARGs. It also discussed the molecular mechanisms of MGEs which can help in containing the spread of antibiotic resistance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Insha Sultan
- Department of Biosciences, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi 110025, India
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25
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Du C, Yang F, Li X, Liao H, Li Z, Gao J, Zhang L. Metagenomic analysis of microbial community structure and distribution of resistance genes in Daihai Lake, China. ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION (BARKING, ESSEX : 1987) 2022; 302:119065. [PMID: 35227842 DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2022.119065] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/21/2021] [Revised: 02/18/2022] [Accepted: 02/24/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
The emergence of resistance genes is a global phenomenon that poses a significant threat to both animals and humans. Lakes are important reservoirs of genes that confer resistant to antibiotics and metals. In this study, we investigated the distribution and diversity of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and metal resistance genes (MRGs) in the sediment of Daihai Lake using high-throughput sequencing and metagenomic analysis. The results indicated that all sampling sites had similar bacterial community structures, with Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, Firmicutes, and Bacteroidetes being the most abundant. A total of 16 ARG types containing 111 ARG subtypes were deposited in the sediment. Among the resistance genes to bacitracin, multidrug, macrolide-lincosamide-streptogramin (MLS), tetracycline, beta-lactam, and sulfonamide were the dominant ARG types, accounting for 89.9-94.3% of the total ARGs. Additionally, 15 MRG types consisting of 146 MRG subtypes were identified. In all samples, MRGs of the same type presented resistance to Pb, Ni, Hg, W, Zn, Ag, Cr, Fe, As, Cu, and multimetals. Overall, the distribution and diversity of antibiotic and metal resistance genes showed no significant differences in the samples. Plasmids (91.03-91.82%) were the most dominant mobile genetic elements in the sediments of Daihai Lake. Network analysis indicated that the target ARGs and MRGs were significantly positively correlated with the microorganisms. Potential hosts for various ARGs and MRGs include Proteobacteria, Euryarchaeota, Actinobacteria, Chloroflexi, and Bacteroidetes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caili Du
- Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Science, Beijing 100012, China; College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China
| | - Fang Yang
- Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Science, Beijing 100012, China.
| | - Xiaoguang Li
- Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Science, Beijing 100012, China
| | - Haiqing Liao
- Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Science, Beijing 100012, China
| | - Zhonghong Li
- Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Science, Beijing 100012, China
| | - Jiayue Gao
- School of Space and Environment, Beihang University, Beijing 100191 China
| | - Lieyu Zhang
- Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Science, Beijing 100012, China
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Cui H, Smith AL. Impact of engineered nanoparticles on the fate of antibiotic resistance genes in wastewater and receiving environments: A comprehensive review. ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH 2022; 204:112373. [PMID: 34774508 DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2021.112373] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2021] [Revised: 11/04/2021] [Accepted: 11/08/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Nanoparticles (NPs) and antibiotic resistance elements are ubiquitous in wastewater and consequently, in receiving environments. Sub-lethal levels of engineered NPs potentially result in a selective pressure on antibiotic resistance gene (ARG) propagation in wastewater treatment plants. Conversely, emergent NPs are being designed to naturally attenuate ARGs based on special physical and electrochemical properties, which could alleviate dissemination of ARGs to the environment. The complex interactions between NPs and antibiotic resistance elements have heightened interest in elucidating the potential positive and negative implications. This review focuses on the properties of NPs and ARGs and how their interactions could increase or decrease antibiotic resistance at wastewater treatment plants and in receiving environments. Further, the potential for sub-lethal level NPs to facilitate horizontal gene transfer of ARGs and increase mutagenesis rates, which adds a layer of complexity to combatting antibiotic resistance associated with wastewater management, is discussed. Notably, the literature revealed that sub-lethal exposure of engineered NPs may facilitate conjugative transfer of ARGs by increasing cell membrane permeability. The enhanced permeability is a result of direct damage via NP attachment and indirect damage by generating reactive oxygen species (ROS) and causing genetic changes relevant to conjugation. Finally, current knowledge gaps and future research directions (e.g., deciphering the fate of NPs in the environment and examining the long-term cytotoxicity of NPs) are identified for this emerging field.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hanlin Cui
- Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Southern California, 3620 South Vermont Avenue, Los Angeles, CA, 90089, United States
| | - Adam L Smith
- Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Southern California, 3620 South Vermont Avenue, Los Angeles, CA, 90089, United States.
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Yang Y, Che Y, Liu L, Wang C, Yin X, Deng Y, Yang C, Zhang T. Rapid absolute quantification of pathogens and ARGs by nanopore sequencing. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2022; 809:152190. [PMID: 34890655 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.152190] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2021] [Revised: 11/30/2021] [Accepted: 12/01/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Compositional nature of relative abundance data in the current standard microbiome studies limits microbial dynamics interpretations and cross-sample comparisons. Here, we demonstrate the first rapid (1-h sequencing) method coupling Nanopore metagenomic sequencing with cellular spike-in to facilitate the absolute quantification and removal assessment of pathogens and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). Nanopore sequencing-based quantification results for both simple mock community and complex real environmental samples showed a high consistency with those from the widely-used Illumina and culture-based approaches. Implementing such method, we quantified 46 predominant putative pathogenic species, and 361 ARGs in three WWTP sample sets. Though high log removals of dominant pathogens (2.23 logs) and ARGs (1.98 logs) were achieved, complete removal of all pathogens and ARGs were not achieved. Noticeably, Mycobacterium spp., Clostridium_P perfringens, and Borrelia hermsii exhibited low removal, and 13 ARGs even increased in absolute abundance after the treatment. Our proposed approach manifested its profound ability in providing absolute quantitation information guiding wastewater-based epidemiological surveillance and quantitative risk assessment facilitating microbial hazards management.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yu Yang
- Environmental Microbiome Engineering and Biotechnology Laboratory, Centre for Environmental Engineering Research, Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - You Che
- Environmental Microbiome Engineering and Biotechnology Laboratory, Centre for Environmental Engineering Research, Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Lei Liu
- Environmental Microbiome Engineering and Biotechnology Laboratory, Centre for Environmental Engineering Research, Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Chunxiao Wang
- Environmental Microbiome Engineering and Biotechnology Laboratory, Centre for Environmental Engineering Research, Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Xiaole Yin
- Environmental Microbiome Engineering and Biotechnology Laboratory, Centre for Environmental Engineering Research, Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Yu Deng
- Environmental Microbiome Engineering and Biotechnology Laboratory, Centre for Environmental Engineering Research, Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Chao Yang
- Key Laboratory of Molecular Microbiology and Technology for Ministry of Education, College of Life Sciences, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China
| | - Tong Zhang
- Environmental Microbiome Engineering and Biotechnology Laboratory, Centre for Environmental Engineering Research, Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
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From Conventional Disinfection to Antibiotic Resistance Control-Status of the Use of Chlorine and UV Irradiation during Wastewater Treatment. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2022; 19:ijerph19031636. [PMID: 35162659 PMCID: PMC8834887 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph19031636] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/13/2021] [Revised: 01/22/2022] [Accepted: 01/29/2022] [Indexed: 12/10/2022]
Abstract
Extensive use of antibiotics for humans and livestock has led to an enhanced level of antibiotic resistance in the environment. Municipal wastewater treatment plants are regarded as one of the main sources of antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB) and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in the aquatic environment. A significant amount of research has been carried out to understand the microbiological quality of wastewater with respect to its antibiotic resistance potential over the past several years. UV disinfection has primarily been used to achieve disinfection, including damaging DNA, but there has been an increasing use of chlorine and H2O2-based AOPs for targeting genes, including ARGs, considering the higher energy demands related to the greater UV fluences needed to achieve efficient DNA damage. This review focuses on some of the most investigated processes, including UV photolysis and chlorine in both individual and combined approaches and UV advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) using H2O2. Since these approaches have practical disinfection and wastewater treatment applications globally, the processes are reviewed from the perspective of extending their scope to DNA damage/ARG inactivation in full-scale wastewater treatment. The fate of ARGs during existing wastewater treatment processes and how it changes with existing treatment processes is reviewed with a view to highlighting the research needs in relation to selected processes for addressing future disinfection challenges.
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Resistant Genes and Multidrug-Resistant Bacteria in Wastewater: A Study of Their Transfer to the Water Reservoir in the Czech Republic. Life (Basel) 2022; 12:life12020147. [PMID: 35207435 PMCID: PMC8875776 DOI: 10.3390/life12020147] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/25/2021] [Revised: 01/15/2022] [Accepted: 01/17/2022] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Wastewater is considered the most serious source of the spread of antibiotic resistance in the environment. This work, therefore, focuses on the fate and spread of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in wastewater and the monitoring of multidrug-resistant strains. ARGs were monitored in the nitrification and sedimentation tanks of the wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) and in the dam into which this WWTP flows, at various times. The highest relative abundance was found for the blaTEM > tetW > blaNDM-1 > vanA resistance genes, respectively. An increased concentration of tetracycline (up to 96.00 ng/L) and ampicillin (up to 19.00 ng/L) was found in water samples compared to other antibiotics detected. The increased incidence of seven ARGs and four antibiotics was observed in the November and December sampling times. Isolated ampicillin-resistant strains showed a high degree of resistance to ampicillin (61.2% of the total isolates had a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) ≥ 20 mg/mL). In 87.8% of isolates, out of the total number, the occurrence of two or more ARGs was confirmed. These multidrug-resistant strains were most often identified as Aeromonas sp. This strain could represent a significant role in the spread of multidrug resistance through wastewater in the environment.
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Zieliński W, Korzeniewska E, Harnisz M, Drzymała J, Felis E, Bajkacz S. Wastewater treatment plants as a reservoir of integrase and antibiotic resistance genes - An epidemiological threat to workers and environment. ENVIRONMENT INTERNATIONAL 2021; 156:106641. [PMID: 34015664 DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2021.106641] [Citation(s) in RCA: 61] [Impact Index Per Article: 20.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/17/2021] [Revised: 04/30/2021] [Accepted: 05/09/2021] [Indexed: 05/23/2023]
Abstract
Conventional mechanical and biological wastewater treatment is unable to completely eliminate all pollutants, which can therefore enter surface water bodies together with treated wastewater. In addition, bioaerosols produced during wastewater treatment can pose a threat to the health of the wastewater treatment plant staff. In order to control the impact of a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) on the surrounding environment, including its employees, samples of wastewater and water from a river which received treated wastewater were analysed in terms of their content of antibiotics and heavy metals, levels of selected physiochemical parameters, concentrations of antibiotic-resistance genes (ARGs) and genes of integrases. Furthermore, a quantitative analysis of ARGs in the metagenomic DNA from nasal and throat swabs collected from the WWPT employees was made. Both untreated and treated wastewater samples were dominated by genes of resistance to sulphonamides (sul1, sul2), MLS group of drugs (ermF, ermB) and beta-lactams (blaOXA). A significant increase in the quantities of ARGs and concentrations of antibiotics was observed in the river following the discharge of treated wastewater in comparison to their amounts in the river water upstream from the point of discharge. Moreover, a higher concentration of ARGs was detected in the DNA from swabs obtained from the wastewater treatment plant employees than from ones collected from the control group. Many statistically significant (p < 0.05) correlations between the concentration of the gene of resistance to heavy metals cnrA versus ARGs, and between the ARGs content and the concentrations of heavy metals in both wastewater and river water samples were observed. The study has demonstrated that the mechanical and biological methods of wastewater treatment are not efficient and may affect the transmission of hazardous pollutants to the aquatic environment and to the atmospheric air. It has been shown that an activated sludge bioreactor can be a potential source of the presence of multi-drug resistant microorganisms in the air, which is a health risk to persons working in WWTPs. It has also been found that an environment polluted with heavy metals is where co-selection of antibiotic resistance may occur, in the development of which integrase genes play an essential role.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wiktor Zieliński
- Department of Water Protection Engineering and Environmental Microbiology, The Faculty of Geoengineering, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Prawocheńskiego 1 Str., 10-719 Olsztyn, Poland
| | - Ewa Korzeniewska
- Department of Water Protection Engineering and Environmental Microbiology, The Faculty of Geoengineering, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Prawocheńskiego 1 Str., 10-719 Olsztyn, Poland.
| | - Monika Harnisz
- Department of Water Protection Engineering and Environmental Microbiology, The Faculty of Geoengineering, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Prawocheńskiego 1 Str., 10-719 Olsztyn, Poland
| | - Justyna Drzymała
- The Biotechnology Centre, Silesian University of Technology, Krzywoustego 8 Str., 44-100 Gliwice, Poland
| | - Ewa Felis
- The Biotechnology Centre, Silesian University of Technology, Krzywoustego 8 Str., 44-100 Gliwice, Poland; Environmental Biotechnology Department, Faculty of Energy and Environmental Engineering, Silesian University of Technology, Akademicka 2 Str., 44-100 Gliwice, Poland
| | - Sylwia Bajkacz
- The Biotechnology Centre, Silesian University of Technology, Krzywoustego 8 Str., 44-100 Gliwice, Poland; Department of Inorganic, Analytical Chemistry and Electrochemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, Silesian University of Technology, Krzywoustego 6 Str., 44-100 Gliwice, Poland
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Jia S, Li T, Zhang XX. Integrated metagenomic and metatranscriptomic analyses of ultraviolet disinfection effects on antibiotic resistance genes and bacterial communities during wastewater treatment. ECOTOXICOLOGY (LONDON, ENGLAND) 2021; 30:1610-1619. [PMID: 33278015 DOI: 10.1007/s10646-020-02313-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 11/09/2020] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Ultraviolet (UV) disinfection is now widely implemented in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) worldwide, but its effect on antibiotic resistome of the surviving bacteria remains unclear. In this study, we employed high-throughput sequencing-based metagenomic and metatranscriptomic approaches to comprehensively elucidate the effects of UV disinfection on the shifts of bacterial community and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) on both DNA and mRNA levels in one WWTP. Metagenomic analyses revealed an insignificant change in the bacterial community after UV disinfection, while metatranscriptomic analyses showed that UV disinfection significantly changed the abundance of 13.79% of phyla and 10.32% of genera. In total, 38 ARG-like open reading frames (ORFs) and 327 ARG-like transcripts were identified in the DNA and RNA samples, respectively. The relative abundances of the total ARGs, each ARG type, and each ARG subtype also varied after UV disinfection. Additionally, UV disinfection significantly reduced the expression of total ARGs from 49.40 transcripts per kilobase of exon model per million mapped reads (TPM) to 47.62 TPM, and significantly changed the expression of 10.75% of ARG subtypes in wastewater (p < 0.05). Notably, the significant increase in the expression and obvious increase in the relative abundance of macrolide-lincosamide-streptogramin B (MLSB) resistance genes revealed that UV disinfection increases the potential health risk of MLSB resistance genes in wastewater. Moreover, potential host analyses of ARGs revealed the different preferences of antibiotic resistant bacteria (ARB) to ARGs. This study may shed new light on the underlying mechanism of the UV disinfection effect on antibiotic resistance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shuyu Jia
- State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, Environmental Health Research Center, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210023, China
| | - Tong Li
- State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, Environmental Health Research Center, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210023, China
| | - Xu-Xiang Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, Environmental Health Research Center, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210023, China.
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Rodríguez EA, Pino NJ, Jiménez JN. Climatological and Epidemiological Conditions Are Important Factors Related to the Abundance of bla KPC and Other Antibiotic Resistance Genes (ARGs) in Wastewater Treatment Plants and Their Effluents, in an Endemic Country. Front Cell Infect Microbiol 2021; 11:686472. [PMID: 34485173 PMCID: PMC8414572 DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2021.686472] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/26/2021] [Accepted: 07/21/2021] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Several physicochemical and season factors have been related to the abundance of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), considered hotspots of bacterial resistance. However, few studies on the subject have been carried out in tropical countries endemic for resistance mechanisms such as blaKPC. In this study, the occurrence of ARGs, particularly blaKPC, was determined throughout a WWTP, and the factors related to their abundance were explored. In 2017, wastewater samples were taken from a WWTP in Colombia every 15 days for 6 months, and a total of 44 samples were analyzed by quantitative real-time PCR. sul1, sul2, blaKPC, and ermB were found to be the most prevalent ARGs. A low average reduction of the absolute abundance ARGs in effluent with respect to influent was observed, as well as a greater absolute abundance of ARGs in the WWTP effluent in the rainy season. Factors such as temperature, pH, oxygen, total organic carbon (TOC), chemical oxygen demand (COD), and precipitation were significantly correlated with the absolute abundance of several of the ARGs evaluated. A generalized linear mixed-effects model analysis showed that dissolved oxygen and precipitation in the sampling day were important factors related to the absolute concentration of blaKPC over time. In conclusion, the abundance of ARGs in the WWTP could be influenced by endemic conditions and physicochemical and climatological parameters. Therefore, it is necessary to continuously monitor clinical relevant genes in WWTPs from different global regions, even more so in low-income countries where sewage treatment is limited.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erika A Rodríguez
- Línea de Epidemiología Molecular Bacteriana, Grupo de Investigación en Microbiología Básica y Aplicada (MICROBA), Escuela de Microbiología, Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia
| | - Nancy J Pino
- Grupo Diagnóstico y Control de la Contaminación (GDCON), Sede de Investigación Universitaria, Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia
| | - J Natalia Jiménez
- Línea de Epidemiología Molecular Bacteriana, Grupo de Investigación en Microbiología Básica y Aplicada (MICROBA), Escuela de Microbiología, Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia
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Antibiotic Resistance Gene Transformation and Ultrastructural Alterations of Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) Resulting from Sulfadiazine Accumulation in Culture Solution. Processes (Basel) 2021. [DOI: 10.3390/pr9081451] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
The research herein explored the possible mechanism of toxicity of the antibiotic sulfadiazine (SD) and the related antibiotic resistance gene transformation in lettuce by systematically investigating its growth responses, ultrastructural changes, and antibiotic resistance gene transformation via solution culture experiments. The results showed that SD mainly accumulated in the roots of lettuce at concentrations ranging from 6.48 to 120.87 μg/kg, which were significantly higher than those in leaves (3.90 to 16.74 μg/kg). Lower concentrations of SD (0.5 and 2.0 mg/L) in the culture nutrient solution exerted little effect on lettuce growth, while at SD concentrations higher than 10 mg/L, the growth of lettuce was significantly inhibited, manifesting as shorter root length and lower dry matter yield of whole lettuce plants. Compared with that for the control group, the absolute abundance of bacteria in the root endophyte, rhizosphere, and phyllosphere communities under different concentrations of SD treatment decreased significantly. sul1 and sul2 mainly accumulated in the root endophyte community, at levels significantly higher than those in the leaf endophyte community. Studies of electrolyte leakage and ultrastructural characteristics of root and leaf cells indicated that lettuce grown in culture solutions with high SD concentrations suffered severe damage and disintegration of the cell walls of organs, especially chloroplasts, in leaves. Furthermore, the possible mechanism of SD toxicity in lettuce was confirmed to start with the roots, followed by a free flow of SD into the leaves to destroy the chloroplasts in the leaf cells, which ultimately reduced photosynthesis and decreased plant growth. Studies have shown that antibiotic residues have negative effects on the growth of lettuce and highlight a potential risk of the development and spread of antibiotic resistance in vegetable endophyte systems.
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Jeong SH, Kwon JY, Shin SB, Choi WS, Lee JH, Kim SJ, Ha KS. Antibiotic resistance in shellfish and major inland pollution sources in the drainage basin of Kamak Bay, Republic of Korea. ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING AND ASSESSMENT 2021; 193:471. [PMID: 34226964 DOI: 10.1007/s10661-021-09201-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2021] [Accepted: 06/07/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Shellfish-growing areas in marine environments are affected by pollutants that mainly originate from land, including streams, domestic wastewater, and the effluents of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), which may function as reservoirs of antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB) and antibiotic-resistance genes (ARGs). The objective of this study was to identify the occurrence and distribution of antibiotic resistance at five oyster sampling sites and 11 major inland pollution sources in the drainage basin of Kamak Bay, Republic of Korea. Culture-based methods were used to estimate the diversity and abundance of antibiotic-resistant Escherichia coli strains isolated from oysters and major inland pollution sources. The percentages of ARB and multiple antibiotic resistance index values were significantly high in discharge water from small fishing villages without WWTPs. However, the percentages of antibiotic-resistant E. coli isolates from oysters were low, as there was no impact from major inland pollutants. Fourteen ARGs were also quantified from oysters and major inland pollution sources. Although most ARGs except for quinolones were widely distributed in domestic wastewater discharge and effluent from WWTPs, macrolide resistance genes (ermB and msrA) were detected mainly from oysters in Kamak Bay. This study will aid in tracking the sources of antibiotic contamination in shellfish to determine the correlation between shellfish and inland pollution sources.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sang Hyeon Jeong
- Southeast Sea Fisheries Research Institute (53085), National Institute of Fisheries Science, 397-68, Sanyangilju-ro, Sanyang-eup, Tongyeong-si, Gyeongsangnam-do, Republic of Korea.
| | - Ji Young Kwon
- Southeast Sea Fisheries Research Institute (53085), National Institute of Fisheries Science, 397-68, Sanyangilju-ro, Sanyang-eup, Tongyeong-si, Gyeongsangnam-do, Republic of Korea
| | - Soon Bum Shin
- South Sea Fisheries Research Institute (59780), National Institute of Fisheries Science, 22, Sepodangmeori-gil, Hwayang-myeon, Yeosu-si, Jeollanam-do, Republic of Korea
| | - Woo Suk Choi
- South Sea Fisheries Research Institute (59780), National Institute of Fisheries Science, 22, Sepodangmeori-gil, Hwayang-myeon, Yeosu-si, Jeollanam-do, Republic of Korea
| | - Ji Hee Lee
- South Sea Fisheries Research Institute (59780), National Institute of Fisheries Science, 22, Sepodangmeori-gil, Hwayang-myeon, Yeosu-si, Jeollanam-do, Republic of Korea
| | - Seon-Jae Kim
- Department of Marine Bio Food Science, Chonnam National University (59626), 50, Daehak-ro, Yeosu-si, Jeollanam-do, Republic of Korea
| | - Kwang Soo Ha
- Southeast Sea Fisheries Research Institute (53085), National Institute of Fisheries Science, 397-68, Sanyangilju-ro, Sanyang-eup, Tongyeong-si, Gyeongsangnam-do, Republic of Korea
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Michán C, Blasco J, Alhama J. High-throughput molecular analyses of microbiomes as a tool to monitor the wellbeing of aquatic environments. Microb Biotechnol 2021; 14:870-885. [PMID: 33559398 PMCID: PMC8085945 DOI: 10.1111/1751-7915.13763] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/23/2020] [Revised: 01/12/2021] [Accepted: 01/19/2021] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Aquatic environments are the recipients of many sources of environmental stress that trigger both local and global changes. To evaluate the associated risks to organisms and ecosystems more sensitive and accurate strategies are required. The analysis of the microbiome is one of the most promising candidates for environmental diagnosis of aquatic systems. Culture-independent interconnected meta-omic approaches are being increasing used to fill the gaps that classical microbial approaches cannot resolve. Here, we provide a prospective view of the increasing application of these high-throughput molecular technologies to evaluate the structure and functional activity of microbial communities in response to changes and disturbances in the environment, mostly of anthropogenic origin. Some relevant topics are reviewed, such as: (i) the use of microorganisms for water quality assessment, highlighting the incidence of antimicrobial resistance as an increasingly serious threat to global public health; (ii) the crucial role of microorganisms and their complex relationships with the ongoing climate change, and other stress threats; (iii) the responses of the environmental microbiome to extreme pollution conditions, such as acid mine drainage or oil spills. Moreover, protists and viruses, due to their huge impacts on the structure of microbial communities, are emerging candidates for the assessment of aquatic environmental health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carmen Michán
- Departamento de Bioquímica y Biología MolecularCampus de Excelencia Internacional Agroalimentario CeiA3Universidad de CórdobaCampus de Rabanales, Edificio Severo OchoaCórdobaE‐14071Spain
| | - Julián Blasco
- Department of Ecology and Coastal ManagementICMAN‐CSICCampus Rio San PedroPuerto Real (Cádiz)E‐11510Spain
| | - José Alhama
- Departamento de Bioquímica y Biología MolecularCampus de Excelencia Internacional Agroalimentario CeiA3Universidad de CórdobaCampus de Rabanales, Edificio Severo OchoaCórdobaE‐14071Spain
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Pallares-Vega R, Hernandez Leal L, Fletcher BN, Vias-Torres E, van Loosdrecht MCM, Weissbrodt DG, Schmitt H. Annual dynamics of antimicrobials and resistance determinants in flocculent and aerobic granular sludge treatment systems. WATER RESEARCH 2021; 190:116752. [PMID: 33385875 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2020.116752] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2020] [Revised: 12/13/2020] [Accepted: 12/14/2020] [Indexed: 05/14/2023]
Abstract
The occurrence and removal patterns of 24 antimicrobial agents and antimicrobial resistant determinants namely 6 antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and 2 mobile genetic elements (MGEs), and the fecal indicator E. coli were investigated in three full-scale wastewater treatment plants. Their waterlines and biosolids lines (including secondary treatment based on both granular and activated sludge) were sampled monthly throughout one year. Samples were analyzed by means of LC-MS/MS, qPCR and cell enumeration, respectively. The influence of rainfall, temperature, and turbidity on the occurrence and removal of the aforementioned agents was assessed through statistical linear mixed models. Ten of the antimicrobial agents (macrolides, fluoroquinolones, tetracyclines, and sulfonamides) were commonly found in influent in concentrations of 0.1-2 µg L-1, and the predominant ARGs were ermB and sul1 (6.4 and 5.9 log10 mL-1 respectively). Warmer temperatures slightly reduced gene concentrations in influent whilst increasing that of E. coli and produced an uneven effect on the antimicrobial concentrations across plants. Rainfall diluted both E. coli (-0.25 logs, p < 0.001) and antimicrobials but not genes. The wastewater treatment reduced the absolute abundance of both genes (1.86 logs on average) and E. coli (2.31 logs on average). The antimicrobials agents were also partly removed, but 8 of them were still detectable after treatment, and 6 accumulated in the biosolids. ARGs were also found in biosolids with patterns resembling those of influent. No significant differences in the removal of antimicrobials, genes and E. coli were observed when comparing conventional activated sludge with aerobic granular sludge. Irrespective of the type of sludge treatment, the removal of genes was significantly reduced with increasing hydraulic loads caused by rainfall (-0.35 logs per ∆ average daily flow p < 0.01), and slightly decreased with increasing turbidity (-0.02 logs per ∆1 nephelometric turbidy unit p < 0.05) .
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Affiliation(s)
- Rebeca Pallares-Vega
- Wetsus, European Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Water Technology, Leeuwarden, Netherlands; Department of Biotechnology, Delft University of Technology, Delft, Netherlands
| | - Lucia Hernandez Leal
- Wetsus, European Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Water Technology, Leeuwarden, Netherlands
| | - Benjamin N Fletcher
- Wetsus, European Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Water Technology, Leeuwarden, Netherlands; Bournemouth University, Bournemouth, UK
| | - Eduardo Vias-Torres
- Wetsus, European Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Water Technology, Leeuwarden, Netherlands
| | | | - David G Weissbrodt
- Department of Biotechnology, Delft University of Technology, Delft, Netherlands
| | - Heike Schmitt
- Wetsus, European Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Water Technology, Leeuwarden, Netherlands; Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands; RIVM, Centre for Infectious Disease Control, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Bilthoven, Netherlands.
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Ojemaye MO, Adefisoye MA, Okoh AI. Nanotechnology as a viable alternative for the removal of antimicrobial resistance determinants from discharged municipal effluents and associated watersheds: A review. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT 2020; 275:111234. [PMID: 32866924 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2020.111234] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2019] [Revised: 05/25/2020] [Accepted: 08/12/2020] [Indexed: 05/20/2023]
Abstract
Effective and efficient utilization of antimicrobial drugs has been one of the important cornerstone of modern medicine. However, since antibiotics were first discovered by Alexander Fleming about a century ago, the time clock of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) started ticking somewhat leading to a global fear of a possible "post-antimicrobial era". Antibiotic resistance (AR) remains a serious challenge causing global outcry in both the clinical setting and the environment. The huge influence of municipal wastewater effluent discharges on the aquatic environment has made the niche a hotspot of research interest in the study of emergence and spread of AMR microbes and their resistance determinants/genes. The current review adopted a holistic approach in studying the proliferation of antibiotic resistance determinants (ARDs) as well as their impacts and fate in municipal wastewater effluents and the receiving aquatic environments. The various strategies deployed hitherto for the removal of resistance determinants in municipal effluents were carefully reviewed, while the potential for the use of nanotechnology as a viable alternative is explicitly explored. Also, highlighted in this review are the knowledge gaps to be filled in order to curtail the spread of AMR in aquatic environment and lastly, suggestions on the applicability of nanotechnology in eliminating AMR determinants in municipal wastewater treatment facilities are proffered.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mike O Ojemaye
- SAMRC Microbial Water Quality Monitoring Centre, University of Fort Hare, South Africa; Applied and Environmental Microbiology Research Group (AEMREG), University of Fort Hare, South Africa.
| | - Martins A Adefisoye
- SAMRC Microbial Water Quality Monitoring Centre, University of Fort Hare, South Africa; Applied and Environmental Microbiology Research Group (AEMREG), University of Fort Hare, South Africa.
| | - Anthony I Okoh
- SAMRC Microbial Water Quality Monitoring Centre, University of Fort Hare, South Africa; Applied and Environmental Microbiology Research Group (AEMREG), University of Fort Hare, South Africa.
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Xu A, Shang-Guan J, Li Z, Gao Z, Huang YC, Chen Q. Effects of dietary asafoetida (Ferula sinkiangensis K. M. Shen) levels on feeding attraction activity, growth performance, healthiness, and digestive enzyme activity in juvenile Lateolabrax japonicus. FISH PHYSIOLOGY AND BIOCHEMISTRY 2020; 46:1991-2003. [PMID: 32681211 DOI: 10.1007/s10695-020-00849-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/08/2019] [Accepted: 07/07/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
The study was to investigate effects of asafoetida (Ferula sinkiangensis K. M. Shen) powder on feeding attraction activity (FAA), growth performance, healthiness, and digestive enzyme activity of juvenile Lateolabrax japonicus. Six concentration levels (0, 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25 g/kg diets) were formulated for luring and feeding experiment. Results showed that asafoetida could stimulate the appetite of L. japonicus at the dietary levels from 10 to 25 g/kg; reduce the feed conversion ratio (FCR) and feed intake (FI) at 10-20 g/kg; increase the weight gain (WG) and specific growth rate (SGR) at 5-10 g/kg; increase the hepatosomatic index (HSI), body crude lipid content, serum total protein (TP) content, and lysozyme activity at 10-15 g/kg; decrease the moisture at 10-15 g/kg; and increase the serum total superoxide dismutase (T-SOD) activity at 5-15 g/kg, when compared with the control group (p < 0.05). Digestive enzyme activities including amylase (AMS) and trypsin in the intestine were significantly affected by the asafoetida powder (p < 0.05). Regression analyses between the FAA, FCR, WG, SGR, HSI, LZM, T-SOD, AMS, trypsin, and the dietary asafoetida powder levels showed that the optimal additional amount was 16.95, 13.65, 8.36, 8.15, 15.45, 9.94, 8.75, 11.77, and 7.07 g/kg, respectively, indicating that the optimal amount of asafoetida powder was located in 7.07-16.95 g/kg diet. However, combined with the significant difference analyses obtained from the current study, we would suggest the additive suitable dosage was 10 g/kg.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anle Xu
- Fisheries College, Jimei University, Xiamen, China
- Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Marine Fishery Resources and Eco-environment, Xiamen, China
| | - Jingbo Shang-Guan
- Fisheries College, Jimei University, Xiamen, China
- Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Marine Fishery Resources and Eco-environment, Xiamen, China
| | - Zhongbao Li
- Fisheries College, Jimei University, Xiamen, China.
- Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Marine Fishery Resources and Eco-environment, Xiamen, China.
| | - Zhan Gao
- Fisheries College, Jimei University, Xiamen, China
- Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Marine Fishery Resources and Eco-environment, Xiamen, China
| | - Yong Chun Huang
- Fisheries College, Jimei University, Xiamen, China
- Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Marine Fishery Resources and Eco-environment, Xiamen, China
| | - Qiang Chen
- Fisheries College, Jimei University, Xiamen, China
- Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Marine Fishery Resources and Eco-environment, Xiamen, China
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Sabri NA, van Holst S, Schmitt H, van der Zaan BM, Gerritsen HW, Rijnaarts HHM, Langenhoff AAM. Fate of antibiotics and antibiotic resistance genes during conventional and additional treatment technologies in wastewater treatment plants. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2020; 741:140199. [PMID: 32615424 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.140199] [Citation(s) in RCA: 79] [Impact Index Per Article: 19.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2020] [Revised: 06/11/2020] [Accepted: 06/11/2020] [Indexed: 05/23/2023]
Abstract
Information on the removal of antibiotics and ARGs in full-scale WWTPs (with or without additional treatment technology) is limited. However, it is important to understand the efficiency of full-scale treatment technologies in removing antibiotics and ARGs under a variety of conditions relevant for practice to reduce their environmental spreading. Therefore, this study was performed to evaluate the removal of antibiotics and ARGs in a conventional wastewater treatment plant (WWTP A) and two full-scale combined with additional treatment technologies. WWTP B, a conventional activated sludge treatment followed by an activated carbon filtration step (1-STEP® filter) as a final treatment step. WWTP C, a treatment plant using aerobic granular sludge (NEREDA®) as an alternative to activated sludge treatment. Water and sludge were collected and analysed for 52 antibiotics from four target antibiotic groups (macrolides, sulfonamides, quinolones, tetracyclines) and four target ARGs (ermB, sul 1, sul 2 and tetW) and integrase gene class 1 (intI1). Despite the high removal percentages (79-88%) of the total load of antibiotics in all WWTPs, some antibiotics were detected in the various effluents. Additional treatment technology (WWTP C) showed antibiotics removal up to 99% (tetracyclines). For ARGs, WWTP C reduced 2.3 log followed by WWTP A with 2.0 log, and WWTP B with 1.3 log. This shows that full-scale WWTP with an additional treatment technology are promising solutions for reducing emissions of antibiotics and ARGs from wastewater treatment plants. However, total removal of the antibiotics and ARGS cannot be achieved for all types of antibiotics and ARGs. In addition, the ARGs were more abundant in the sludge compared to the wastewater effluent suggesting that sludge is an important reservoir representing a source for later ARG emissions upon reuse, i.e. as fertilizer in agriculture or as resource for bioplastics or bioflocculants. These aspects require further research.
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Affiliation(s)
- N A Sabri
- Department of Environmental Technology, Wageningen University & Research, P.O. Box 17, 6700 AA Wageningen, the Netherlands
| | - S van Holst
- Department of Environmental Technology, Wageningen University & Research, P.O. Box 17, 6700 AA Wageningen, the Netherlands
| | - H Schmitt
- Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences, Utrecht University, Yalelaan 2, 3584 CM Utrecht, the Netherlands
| | - B M van der Zaan
- Deltares, Subsurface and Groundwater Systems, Daltonlaan 600, 3584 KB Utrecht, the Netherlands
| | - H W Gerritsen
- Wageningen Food Safety Research (WFSR), Wageningen University & Research, P.O. Box 230, 6700 AE Wageningen, the Netherlands
| | - H H M Rijnaarts
- Department of Environmental Technology, Wageningen University & Research, P.O. Box 17, 6700 AA Wageningen, the Netherlands
| | - A A M Langenhoff
- Department of Environmental Technology, Wageningen University & Research, P.O. Box 17, 6700 AA Wageningen, the Netherlands.
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Oliveira M, Nunes M, Barreto Crespo MT, Silva AF. The environmental contribution to the dissemination of carbapenem and (fluoro)quinolone resistance genes by discharged and reused wastewater effluents: The role of cellular and extracellular DNA. WATER RESEARCH 2020; 182:116011. [PMID: 32623198 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2020.116011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/27/2020] [Revised: 05/18/2020] [Accepted: 06/01/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are major reservoirs and sources for the dissemination of antibiotic resistance into the environment. In this study, the population dynamics of two full-scale WWTPs was characterized along different sampling points, including the reused effluents, in both cellular and extracellular DNA samples. The analysis was performed by high throughput sequencing targeting the 16S rRNA V4 gene region and by three in-house TaqMan multiplex qPCR assays that detect and quantify the most clinically relevant and globally distributed carbapenem (bla) and (fluoro)quinolone (qnr) resistance genes. The obtained results identify the biological treatment as the crucial step on tailoring the wastewater bacterial community, which is thereafter maintained in both discharged and reused effluents. The influent bacterial community does not alter the WWTP core community, although it clearly contributes for the introduction and spread of antibiotic resistance to the in-house bacteria. The presence of high concentrations of bla and qnr genes was not only detected in the wastewater influents and discharged effluents, but also in the reused effluents, which therefore represent another gateway for antibiotic resistant bacteria and genes into the environment and directly to the human populations. Moreover, and together with the study of the cellular DNA, it was described for the first time the role of the extracellular DNA in the dissemination of carbapenem and (fluoro)quinolone resistance, as well as the impact of the wastewater treatment process on this DNA fraction. Altogether, the results prove that the current wastewater treatments are inefficient in the removal of antibiotic resistant bacteria and genes and reinforce that targeted treatments must be developed and implemented at full-scale in the WWTPs for wastewater reuse to become a safe and sustainable practice, able to be implemented in areas such as agricultural irrigation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Micaela Oliveira
- Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica António Xavier, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Avenida da República, 2780-157, Oeiras, Portugal; iBET, Instituto de Biologia Experimental e Tecnológica, Apartado 12, 2781-901, Oeiras, Portugal.
| | - Mónica Nunes
- Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica António Xavier, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Avenida da República, 2780-157, Oeiras, Portugal; iBET, Instituto de Biologia Experimental e Tecnológica, Apartado 12, 2781-901, Oeiras, Portugal.
| | - Maria Teresa Barreto Crespo
- Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica António Xavier, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Avenida da República, 2780-157, Oeiras, Portugal; iBET, Instituto de Biologia Experimental e Tecnológica, Apartado 12, 2781-901, Oeiras, Portugal.
| | - Ana Filipa Silva
- Section of Microbiology, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, Copenhagen, Denmark.
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Niestępski S, Harnisz M, Ciesielski S, Korzeniewska E, Osińska A. Environmental fate of Bacteroidetes, with particular emphasis on Bacteroides fragilis group bacteria and their specific antibiotic resistance genes, in activated sludge wastewater treatment plants. JOURNAL OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS 2020; 394:122544. [PMID: 32224375 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2020.122544] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2019] [Revised: 03/13/2020] [Accepted: 03/14/2020] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
The aim of this study was to determine the effect of the activated sludge process on the abundance of anaerobic bacteria of the phylum Bacteroidetes, with special emphasis on Bacteroides fragilis group (BFG) bacteria, in twelve full-scale wastewater treatment plants. The composition of bacterial phyla and classes in wastewater samples were analyzed by next-generation sequencing. The presence of specific to BFG bacteria genes and the abundance of ARGs and genes encoding class 1 integrase in wastewater samples were determined by qPCR. Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Actinobacteria and Bacteroidetes were dominant bacterial phyla in wastewater samples. Next-generation sequencing revealed similar proportions of Bacteroidia (<1.0-8.2 % of all bacteria) in wastewater influents and effluents, which suggest that these microorganisms are not completely eliminated in the activated sludge process. The average copy numbers of specific to BFG bacteria gene, were 106, and 104 copies in 1 mL of wastewater influents and effluents, respectively. The results revealed a correlation between the abundance of BFG bacteria and BFG-specific genes encoding resistance to antibiotics. The observed changes in the prevalence of BFG-specific genes and ARGs in untreated and treated wastewater indicate that the activated sludge process decreases the number of gene copies in the effluent evacuated to the environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sebastian Niestępski
- Department of Environmental Microbiology, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Prawocheńskiego 1, 10-720, Olsztyn, Poland.
| | - Monika Harnisz
- Department of Environmental Microbiology, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Prawocheńskiego 1, 10-720, Olsztyn, Poland.
| | - Sławomir Ciesielski
- Department of Environmental Biotechnology, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Słoneczna 45G, 10-719, Olsztyn, Poland.
| | - Ewa Korzeniewska
- Department of Environmental Microbiology, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Prawocheńskiego 1, 10-720, Olsztyn, Poland.
| | - Adriana Osińska
- Department of Environmental Microbiology, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Prawocheńskiego 1, 10-720, Olsztyn, Poland.
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Kalasseril SG, Krishnan R, Vattiringal RK, Paul R, Mathew P, Pillai D. Detection of New Delhi Metallo-β-lactamase 1 and Cephalosporin Resistance Genes Among Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacteriaceae in Water Bodies Adjacent to Hospitals in India. Curr Microbiol 2020; 77:2886-2895. [PMID: 32643019 DOI: 10.1007/s00284-020-02107-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/07/2020] [Accepted: 06/23/2020] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
The prevalence of carbapenem resistance among bacterial isolates from selected water bodies receiving hospital effluents and adjoining aquaculture farms in Kerala, India, was studied. Klebsiella pneumoniae followed by Escherichia coli, Klebsiella oxytoca, Enterobacter aerogenes and Acinetobacter baumannii were the predominant isolates. Antibiotic sensitivity of these isolates was determined by Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method. Nearly 60% of the Enterobacteriaceae isolates screened were multidrug resistant of which 16.6% were carbapenem resistant. The carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae were further screened for the presence of New Delhi metallo β-lactamase-1 and cephalosporin resistance encoding genes. All NDM-1 isolates were highly resistant to carbapenem, cephalosporin, aminoglycosides, quinolones, tetracycline, and sulphonamides. K. pneumoniae harboring blaNDM-1 gene and E. coli isolates with blaCTX-M-15 and blaSHV-11 genes were detected in hospital discharge points. In aquaculture farms too, carbapenem-resistant K. pneumoniae with blaNDM-1 gene and E. coli isolates with blaCTX-M-15 were observed, although there was no use of antibiotics in these farms. However, other carbapenemase genes such as blaTEM, blaVIM, blaIMP and blaGIM were not detected in any of these isolates. The results suggest the increased prevalence of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae in the water bodies receiving hospital effluent and its dissemination to adjacent aquaculture farms, posing a serious threat to public health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sneha Girijan Kalasseril
- Department of Aquatic Animal Health Management, Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies, Kochi, Kerala, India
| | - Rahul Krishnan
- Department of Aqualife Medicine, Chonnam National University, Yeosu, Republic of Korea
| | - Rejish Kumar Vattiringal
- Department of Aquaculture, Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies, Kochi, Kerala, India
| | - Robin Paul
- State Laboratory for Livestock, Marine & Agri Products (SLMAP), Department of Animal Husbandary, Government of Kerala, Ernakulam, India
| | - Philip Mathew
- ReAct Asia-Pacific, Centre for Environment, Sustainability and Health, Vellore, India
| | - Devika Pillai
- Department of Aquatic Animal Health Management, Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies, Kochi, Kerala, India.
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43
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Removal of Antibiotic Resistance Genes at Two Conventional Wastewater Treatment Plants of Louisiana, USA. WATER 2020. [DOI: 10.3390/w12061729] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) represent all known types of antibiotic resistance mechanisms and are considered as the critical points for the spread of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs). The purpose of this study is to investigate the removal of a Class 1 integrase gene (intI1) and a selected set of ARGs (blaTEM, ermF, mecA, and tetA) at two conventional WWTPs by using chlorination in Louisiana, USA. We collected 69 wastewater samples (23 each from influent, secondary effluent, and final effluent) and determined the concentrations of ARGs by using quantitative polymerase chain reaction. All tested ARGs, except for mecA, were detected in 83–96% and 30–65% of influent and final effluent samples, respectively. Although the ARGs underwent approximately 3-log10 reduction, two WWTPs on an average still released 3.3 ± 1.7 log10 copies/mL of total ARGs studied in the effluents. Chlorination was found to be critical in the significant reduction of total ARGs (p < 0.05). Correlation analysis and the ability of intI1 to persist through the treatment processes recommend the use of intI1 as a marker of ARGs in effluents to monitor the spread of antibiotic resistance in effluents. Our study suggests that conventional WWTPs using chlorination do not favor the proliferation of antibiotic resistance bacteria and ARGs during wastewater treatment.
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Kucukunsal S, Icgen B. Removal of antibiotic resistance genes in various water resources recovery facilities. WATER ENVIRONMENT RESEARCH : A RESEARCH PUBLICATION OF THE WATER ENVIRONMENT FEDERATION 2020; 92:911-921. [PMID: 31845454 DOI: 10.1002/wer.1286] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2019] [Revised: 11/27/2019] [Accepted: 12/05/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Water resources recovery facilities (WWTPs) are hotspots for antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and pose a significant threat to environments. Therefore, ARG removal efficiencies of WWTPs are of great importance. In this study, conventional activated sludge (CAS), biological nutrient removal (BNR), sequencing batch reactor (SBR), membrane bioreactor (MBR), package MBR, and WWTP with coagulation-flocculation and UV disinfection units were investigated in terms of their removal efficiencies on overall bacterial genes with 16S rDNA and seven ARGs including the genes aadA, blaCTX-M , cmlA, ermB, sul1, tetA, and qnrS corresponding to commonly used antibiotics aminoglycosides, β-lactams, amphenicols, macrolides-lincosamides-streptogramins, sulfonamides-trimethoprim, tetracyclines, and quinolones, respectively. Seasonal abundance of overall genes and ARGs in influents and effluents of each WWTPs was determined by quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Membrane bioreactor and package MBR systems showed the highest removal efficiency up to 5-log reductions. Seasonal changes affected ARG removal efficiencies of BNR and CAS significantly (p < 0.05). The lowest log reductions were determined in summer for BNR and in both autumn and winter for CAS. The abundance of the genes increased in sludge treatment of CAS. In all WWTPs tested, ARG removal rates were correlated with the 16S rDNA gene removal (p > 0.05). The results elucidated that the removal mechanism was not ARG-specific. PRACTITIONER POINTS: Removal of genes in WWTPs was found to be not ARG-specific. MBR and package MBR systems had the highest gene removal efficiencies. Effluents of the MBR systems still retained up to 104 gene copy number/ml. Removal of genes in CAS and BNR systems showed seasonal variations. The copy numbers of the genes increased in the sludge of CAS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Serkan Kucukunsal
- Department of Environmental Engineering, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey
| | - Bulent Icgen
- Department of Environmental Engineering, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey
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Alygizakis NA, Urík J, Beretsou VG, Kampouris I, Galani A, Oswaldova M, Berendonk T, Oswald P, Thomaidis NS, Slobodnik J, Vrana B, Fatta-Kassinos D. Evaluation of chemical and biological contaminants of emerging concern in treated wastewater intended for agricultural reuse. ENVIRONMENT INTERNATIONAL 2020; 138:105597. [PMID: 32120059 DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2020.105597] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/21/2019] [Revised: 02/18/2020] [Accepted: 02/18/2020] [Indexed: 05/23/2023]
Abstract
The occurrence of chemical and biological contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) was investigated in treated wastewater intended for reuse in agriculture. An agarose hydrogel diffusion-based passive sampler was exposed to the outlet of a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) located in Cyprus, which is equipped with membrane bioreactor (MBR). Passive samplers in triplicate were exposed according to a time-series exposure plan with maximum exposure duration of 28 days. Composite flow-proportional wastewater samples were collected in parallel with the passive sampling exposure plan and were processed by solid phase extraction using HORIZON SPE-DEX 4790 and the same sorbent material (Oasis HLB) as in the passive sampler. The analysis of passive samplers and wastewater samples enabled (i) the field-scale calibration of the passive sampler prototype by the calculation of in situ sampling rates of target substances, and (ii) the investigation of in silico predicted transformation products of the four most ecotoxicologically hazardous antibiotics (azithromycin, clarithromycin, erythromycin, ofloxacin). Additionally, the wastewater samples were subjected to the analysis of seven preselected antibiotic resistant genes (ARGs) and one mobile resistant element (int1). All extracts were analyzed for chemicals in a single batch using a highly sensitive method for pharmaceuticals, antibiotics and illicit drugs by liquid chromatography tandem MS/MS (LC-QQQ) and for various other target compounds (2316 compounds in total) by liquid chromatography high-resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS). 279 CECs and all investigated ARGs (except for blaCTX-M-32) were detected, highlighting potential chemical and biological hazards related to wastewater reuse practices. 16 CECs were prioritized following ecotoxicological risk assessment, whereas sul1 and the mobile resistant element (int1) showed the highest abundance. Comprehensive monitoring efforts using novel sampling methods such as passive sampling, wide-scope target screening and molecular analysis are required to assure safe application of wastewater reuse and avoid spread and crop uptake of potentially hazardous chemicals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nikiforos A Alygizakis
- Environmental Institute, Okružná 784/42, 97241 Koš, Slovak Republic; Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, University of Athens, Panepistimiopolis Zografou, 15771 Athens, Greece.
| | - Jakub Urík
- Masaryk University, Faculty of Science, Research Centre for Toxic Compounds in the Environment (RECETOX), Kamenice 753/5, 625 00 Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Vasiliki G Beretsou
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Nireas-International Water Research Center, University of Cyprus, P.O. Box 20537, 1678 Nicosia, Cyprus
| | - Ioannis Kampouris
- Environmental Sciences Technische Universität Dresden, Institute for Hydrobiology, Dresden, Germany
| | - Aikaterini Galani
- Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, University of Athens, Panepistimiopolis Zografou, 15771 Athens, Greece
| | | | - Thomas Berendonk
- Environmental Sciences Technische Universität Dresden, Institute for Hydrobiology, Dresden, Germany
| | - Peter Oswald
- Environmental Institute, Okružná 784/42, 97241 Koš, Slovak Republic
| | - Nikolaos S Thomaidis
- Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, University of Athens, Panepistimiopolis Zografou, 15771 Athens, Greece.
| | | | - Branislav Vrana
- Masaryk University, Faculty of Science, Research Centre for Toxic Compounds in the Environment (RECETOX), Kamenice 753/5, 625 00 Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Despo Fatta-Kassinos
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Nireas-International Water Research Center, University of Cyprus, P.O. Box 20537, 1678 Nicosia, Cyprus
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Ebomah KE, Okoh AI. An African perspective on the prevalence, fate and effects of carbapenem resistance genes in hospital effluents and wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) final effluents: A critical review. Heliyon 2020; 6:e03899. [PMID: 32420480 PMCID: PMC7215200 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e03899] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2020] [Revised: 03/30/2020] [Accepted: 04/28/2020] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
This article provides an overview of the antibiotic era and discovery of earliest antibiotics until the present day state of affairs, coupled with the emergence of carbapenem-resistant bacteria. The ways of response to challenges of antibiotic resistance (AR) such as the development of novel strategies in the search of new antibiotics, designing more effective preventive measures as well as the ecology of AR have been discussed. The applications of plant extract and chemical compounds like nanomaterials which are based on recent developments in the field of antimicrobials, antimicrobial resistance (AMR), and chemotherapy were briefly discussed. The agencies responsible for environmental protection have a role to play in dealing with the climate crisis which poses an existential threat to the planet, and contributes to ecological support towards pathogenic microorganisms. The environment serves as a reservoir and also a vehicle for transmission of antimicrobial resistance genes hence, as dominant inhabitants we have to gain a competitive advantage in the battle against AMR.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kingsley Ehi Ebomah
- SAMRC Microbial Water Quality Monitoring Centre, University of Fort Hare, Alice 5700, South Africa
- Applied and Environmental Microbiology Research Group (AEMREG), Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, University of Fort Hare, Alice 5700, South Africa
| | - Anthony Ifeanyi Okoh
- SAMRC Microbial Water Quality Monitoring Centre, University of Fort Hare, Alice 5700, South Africa
- Applied and Environmental Microbiology Research Group (AEMREG), Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, University of Fort Hare, Alice 5700, South Africa
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Li DC, Gao JF, Zhang SJ, Gao YQ, Sun LX. Emergence and spread patterns of antibiotic resistance genes during two different aerobic granular sludge cultivation processes. ENVIRONMENT INTERNATIONAL 2020; 137:105540. [PMID: 32032776 DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2020.105540] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2019] [Revised: 01/25/2020] [Accepted: 01/29/2020] [Indexed: 05/15/2023]
Abstract
The prevalence and accumulation of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) were frequently detected in biological wastewater treatment processes, which might cause potential health crisis to human. In present study, the fates of ARGs during two different aerobic granular sludge (AGS) cultivation processes were investigated. The results showed that traditional AGS (T-AGS) cultivation process and enhanced AGS (E-AGS) cultivation process had significant differences (P < 0.005) in ARGs shift patterns. E-AGS process had higher average relative abundance (0.280 ± 0.079) of ARGs than T-AGS process (0.130 ± 0.041), while the intensity of ARGs enrichment during E-AGS (1.52-5.29 fold) was lower than T-AGS (3.79-75.31 fold) process. TnpA and intI1 as two different types of mobile genetic elements (MGEs) carrying ARGs, were observed to contribute significantly to the horizontal gene transfer (HGT) during T-AGS (r = 0.902, P < 0.050) and E-AGS (r = 0.823, P < 0.001) processes, respectively. Higher HGT level took place and more possible potential hosts (25 hosts) harboring ARGs were detected during E-AGS process comparing with T-AGS process (17 hosts). Meanwhile, over large AGS might increase the propagation of several antibiotic deactivation ARGs, so it was not advised. Overall, whether during T-AGS or during E-AGS process which was applied in a pilot-scale sequencing batch reactor treating municipal wastewater, the accumulation and spread of ARGs were inevitable. It should be valued that some suitable pre-treatments of seed sludge should be executed, meanwhile, advanced treatment for removing of ARGs in AGS should be conducted to maintain the relative abundances of ARGs at relatively low level.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ding-Chang Li
- National Engineering Laboratory for Advanced Municipal Wastewater Treatment and Reuse Technology, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, China
| | - Jing-Feng Gao
- National Engineering Laboratory for Advanced Municipal Wastewater Treatment and Reuse Technology, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, China.
| | - Shu-Jun Zhang
- Research and Development Center of Beijing Drainage Group Co. Ltd, Beijing 100124, China
| | - Yong-Qing Gao
- Research and Development Center of Beijing Drainage Group Co. Ltd, Beijing 100124, China
| | - Li-Xin Sun
- Research and Development Center of Beijing Drainage Group Co. Ltd, Beijing 100124, China
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48
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Kumar M, Ram B, Sewwandi H, Honda R, Chaminda T. Treatment enhances the prevalence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and antibiotic resistance genes in the wastewater of Sri Lanka, and India. ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH 2020; 183:109179. [PMID: 32006770 DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2020.109179] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2019] [Revised: 01/22/2020] [Accepted: 01/23/2020] [Indexed: 05/21/2023]
Abstract
Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are being debated for being the hot spots for the development of antibiotic resistance in pathogenic microbial communities. We observed the prevalence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB), antibiotic resistance genes (ARG), and multidrug resistance (MDR) in two municipal WWTPs and one hospital WWTP in Western and Southern Sri Lanka, and compared the results with particular reference to Indian and the World scenario to trace the imprints of treatment on ARB and ARG. Result suggests that although wastewater treatment resulted in higher than 1.06 log Escherichia coli (E. coli) reduction at all WWTPs, yet the percent of E. coli resistant to most of the antibiotics increased from influent to effluent. Higher prevalence of ARB, ARG, and MDR were noted in hospital WWTP owing to the higher antibiotic concentrations used and excreted by the patients. With reference to India, the WWTPs in Sri Lanka showed more ARB and a consistent increase in its percentages after the treatment but were less resistant to Fluoroquinolone (FQ). E. coli strains isolated from each location of both countries showed multidrug resistance, which has increased after the treatment and was strongly correlated with FQ in every WWTP. Resistant genes for Fluoroquinolone (FQ) (aac-(6')-1b-cr, qnrB, qnrS), β-lactams (ampC), and sulphonamides (sul1) were common in all the wastewaters except additional parC gene in the hospital effluent of Sri Lanka, implying much higher resistance for quinolones, especially for Ciprofloxacin. Multivariate statistical treatments suggest that effluent showed higher loadings and association for MDR/ARB, where pH change and more extensive interaction with metals during the treatment processes seem to have profound effects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manish Kumar
- Department of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar, India.
| | - Bhagwana Ram
- Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar, India
| | - Himaya Sewwandi
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Ruhuna, Galle, Sri Lanka
| | - Ryo Honda
- Faculty of Environmental Design, Institute of Science and Engineering, Kanazawa University, Kanazawa, Japan
| | - Tushara Chaminda
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Ruhuna, Galle, Sri Lanka
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Milaković M, Vestergaard G, González-Plaza JJ, Petrić I, Kosić-Vukšić J, Senta I, Kublik S, Schloter M, Udiković-Kolić N. Effects of industrial effluents containing moderate levels of antibiotic mixtures on the abundance of antibiotic resistance genes and bacterial community composition in exposed creek sediments. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2020; 706:136001. [PMID: 31855637 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.136001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2019] [Revised: 11/21/2019] [Accepted: 12/06/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Environmental discharges of very high (mg/L) antibiotic levels from pharmaceutical production contributed to the selection, spread and persistence of antibiotic resistance. However, the effects of less antibiotic-polluted effluents (μg/L) from drug-formulation on exposed aquatic microbial communities are still scarce. Here we analyzed formulation effluents and sediments from the receiving creek collected at the discharge site (DW0), upstream (UP) and 3000 m downstream of discharge (DW3000) during winter and summer season. Chemical analyses indicated the largest amounts of trimethoprim (up to 5.08 mg/kg) and azithromycin (up to 0.39 mg/kg) at DW0, but sulfonamides accumulated at DW3000 (total up to 1.17 mg/kg). Quantitative PCR revealed significantly increased relative abundance of various antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) against β-lactams, macrolides, sulfonamides, trimethoprim and tetracyclines in sediments from DW0, despite relatively high background levels of some ARGs already at UP site. However, only sulfonamide (sul2) and macrolide ARG subtypes (mphG and msrE) were still elevated at DW3000 compared to UP. Sequencing of 16S rRNA genes revealed pronounced changes in the sediment bacterial community composition from both DW sites compared to UP site, regardless of the season. Numerous taxa with increased relative abundance at DW0 decreased to background levels at DW3000, suggesting die-off or lack of transport of effluent-originating bacteria. In contrast, various taxa that were more abundant in sediments than in effluents increased in relative abundance at DW3000 but not at DW0, possibly due to selection imposed by high sulfonamide levels. Network analysis revealed strong correlation between some clinically relevant ARGs (e.g. blaGES, blaOXA, ermB, tet39, sul2) and taxa with elevated abundance at DW sites, and known to harbour opportunistic pathogens, such as Acinetobacter, Arcobacter, Aeromonas and Shewanella. Our results demonstrate the necessity for improved management of pharmaceutical and rural waste disposal for mitigating the increasing problems with antibiotic resistance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Milena Milaković
- Division for Marine and Environmental Research, Ruđer Bošković Institute, Bijenička 54, P.O. Box 180, 10 002 Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Gisle Vestergaard
- Research Unit for Comparative Microbiome Analysis (COMI), Helmholtz Zentrum München, Ingolstädter Landstraße 1, D-85764 Neuherberg, Germany; Section for Bioinformatics, Department of Health Technology, Technical University of Denmark, DK-2800 Lyngby, Denmark
| | - Juan Jose González-Plaza
- Division for Marine and Environmental Research, Ruđer Bošković Institute, Bijenička 54, P.O. Box 180, 10 002 Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Ines Petrić
- Division for Marine and Environmental Research, Ruđer Bošković Institute, Bijenička 54, P.O. Box 180, 10 002 Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Josipa Kosić-Vukšić
- Andrija Štampar Teaching Institute of Public Health, Mirogojska cesta 16, 10 000 Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Ivan Senta
- Division for Marine and Environmental Research, Ruđer Bošković Institute, Bijenička 54, P.O. Box 180, 10 002 Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Susanne Kublik
- Research Unit for Comparative Microbiome Analysis (COMI), Helmholtz Zentrum München, Ingolstädter Landstraße 1, D-85764 Neuherberg, Germany
| | - Michael Schloter
- Research Unit for Comparative Microbiome Analysis (COMI), Helmholtz Zentrum München, Ingolstädter Landstraße 1, D-85764 Neuherberg, Germany
| | - Nikolina Udiković-Kolić
- Division for Marine and Environmental Research, Ruđer Bošković Institute, Bijenička 54, P.O. Box 180, 10 002 Zagreb, Croatia.
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Cheng D, Hao Ngo H, Guo W, Wang Chang S, Duc Nguyen D, Liu Y, Zhang X, Shan X, Liu Y. Contribution of antibiotics to the fate of antibiotic resistance genes in anaerobic treatment processes of swine wastewater: A review. BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY 2020; 299:122654. [PMID: 31917094 DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2019.122654] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/11/2019] [Revised: 12/16/2019] [Accepted: 12/18/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in water environment have become a global health concern. Swine wastewater is widely considered to be one of the major contributors for promoting the proliferation of ARGs in water environments. This paper comprehensively reviews and discusses the occurrence and removal of ARGs in anaerobic treatment of swine wastewater, and contributions of antibiotics to the fate of ARGs. The results reveal that ARGs' removal is unstable during anaerobic processes, which negatively associated with the presence of antibiotics. The abundance of bacteria carrying ARGs increases with the addition of antibiotics and results in the spread of ARGs. The positive relationship was found between antibiotics and the abundance and transfer of ARGs in this review. However, it is necessary to understand the correlation among antibiotics, ARGs and microbial communities, and obtain more knowledge about controlling the dissemination of ARGs in the environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dongle Cheng
- Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NWS 2007, Australia
| | - Huu Hao Ngo
- Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NWS 2007, Australia; Joint Research Centre for Protective Infrastructure Technology and Environmental Green Bioprocess, Department of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Tianjin Chengjian University, Tianjin 300384, China; Department of Environmental Energy Engineering, Kyonggi University, 442-760, Republic of Korea.
| | - Wenshan Guo
- Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NWS 2007, Australia; Joint Research Centre for Protective Infrastructure Technology and Environmental Green Bioprocess, Department of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Tianjin Chengjian University, Tianjin 300384, China
| | - Soon Wang Chang
- Department of Environmental Energy Engineering, Kyonggi University, 442-760, Republic of Korea
| | - Dinh Duc Nguyen
- Department of Environmental Energy Engineering, Kyonggi University, 442-760, Republic of Korea; Institution of Research and Development, Duy Tan University, Da Nang, Viet Nam; NTT Institute of Hi-Technology, Nguyen Tat Thanh University, Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam
| | - Yiwen Liu
- Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NWS 2007, Australia
| | - Xinbo Zhang
- Joint Research Centre for Protective Infrastructure Technology and Environmental Green Bioprocess, Department of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Tianjin Chengjian University, Tianjin 300384, China
| | - Xue Shan
- Joint Research Centre for Protective Infrastructure Technology and Environmental Green Bioprocess, Department of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Tianjin Chengjian University, Tianjin 300384, China
| | - Yi Liu
- Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Fudan University, 2205 Songhu Road, Shanghai 200438, PR China
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