1
|
Borsetto C, Raguideau S, Travis E, Kim DW, Lee DH, Bottrill A, Stark R, Song L, Cha CJ, Pearson J, Quince C, Singer AC, Wellington EMH. Impact of sulfamethoxazole on a riverine microbiome. Water Res 2021; 201:117382. [PMID: 34225233 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2021.117382] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2021] [Revised: 05/24/2021] [Accepted: 06/19/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
The continued emergence of bacterial pathogens presenting antimicrobial resistance is widely recognised as a global health threat and recent attention focused on potential environmental reservoirs of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs). Freshwater environments such as rivers represent a potential hotspot for ARGs and antibiotic resistant bacteria as they are receiving systems for effluent discharges from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). Effluent also contains low levels of different antimicrobials including antibiotics and biocides. Sulfonamides are antibacterial chemicals widely used in clinical, veterinary and agricultural settings and are frequently detected in sewage sludge and manure in addition to riverine ecosystems. The impact of such exposure on ARG prevalence and diversity is unknown, so the aim of this study was to investigate the release of a sub-lethal concentration of the sulfonamide compound sulfamethoxazole (SMX) on the river bacterial microbiome using a flume system. This system was a semi-natural in vitro flume using river water (30 L) and sediment (6 kg) with circulation to mimic river flow. A combination of 'omics' approaches were conducted to study the impact of SMX exposure on the microbiomes within the flumes. Metagenomic analysis showed that the addition of low concentrations of SMX (<4 μg L-1) had a limited effect on the bacterial resistome in the water fraction only, with no impact observed in the sediment. Metaproteomics did not show differences in ARGs expression with SMX exposure in water. Overall, the river bacterial community was resilient to short term exposure to sub-lethal concentrations of SMX which mimics the exposure such communities experience downstream of WWTPs throughout the year.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Chiara Borsetto
- University of Warwick, School of Life Sciences, Coventry, UK.
| | | | - Emma Travis
- University of Warwick, School of Life Sciences, Coventry, UK
| | - Dae-Wi Kim
- Department of Systems Biotechnology and Center for Antibiotic Resistome, Chung-Ang University, Anseong, Republic of Korea
| | - Do-Hoon Lee
- Department of Systems Biotechnology and Center for Antibiotic Resistome, Chung-Ang University, Anseong, Republic of Korea
| | - Andrew Bottrill
- University of Warwick, School of Life Sciences, Coventry, UK
| | - Richard Stark
- University of Warwick, School of Life Sciences, Coventry, UK
| | - Lijiang Song
- University of Warwick, Department of Chemistry, Coventry, UK
| | - Chang-Jun Cha
- Department of Systems Biotechnology and Center for Antibiotic Resistome, Chung-Ang University, Anseong, Republic of Korea
| | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|