Catalogue of antibiotic resistome and host-tracking in drinking water deciphered by a large scale survey

Abstract

BackgroundExcesses of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), which are regarded as emerging environmental pollutants, have been observed in various environments. The incidence of ARGs in drinking water causes potential risks to human health and receives more attention from the public. However, ARGs harbored in drinking water remain largely unexplored. In this study, we aimed at establishing an antibiotic resistome catalogue in drinking water samples from a wide range of regions and to explore the potential hosts of ARGs.ResultsA catalogue of antibiotic resistome in drinking water was established, and the host-tracking of ARGs was conducted through a large-scale survey using metagenomic approach. The drinking water samples were collected at the point of use in 25 cities in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, South Africa, Singapore and the USA. In total, 181 ARG subtypes belonging to 16 ARG types were detected with an abundance range of 2.8 × 10−2 to 4.2 × 10−1 copies of ARG per cell. The highest abundance was found in northern China (Henan Province). Bacitracin, multidrug, aminoglycoside, sulfonamide, and beta-lactam resistance genes were dominant in drinking water. Of the drinking water samples tested, 84% had a higher ARG abundance than typical environmental ecosystems of sediment and soil. Metagenomic assembly-based host-tracking analysis identified Acidovorax, Acinetobacter, Aeromonas, Methylobacterium, Methyloversatilis, Mycobacterium, Polaromonas, and Pseudomonas as the hosts of ARGs. Moreover, potential horizontal transfer of ARGs in drinking water systems was proposed by network and Procrustes analyses.ConclusionsThe antibiotic resistome catalogue compiled using a large-scale survey provides a useful reference for future studies on the global surveillance and risk management of ARGs in drinking water.Graphical abstract. Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s40168-017-0369-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Genomic and Metagenomic Approaches for Predictive Surveillance of Emerging Pathogens and Antibiotic Resistance

“…Metagenomic analyses of drinking water across 25 cities on three continents show a wide diversity of ARG types in human drinking supplies with the majority of samples having higher ARG abundance than environmental sediment and soil samples. 60 Altogether these studies illustrate the ubiquitous presence of AROs and ARGs in water supplies and the importance of understanding the origin and spread of ARGs in drinking water. Unless monitored and mediated, ARO and ARG environmental reservoirs can contribute to a vicious cycle that spreads AROs and ARGs over time and vast distances ( Figure 2).…”

“…One common strategy of looking for ARGs is to use the primary nucleotide or amino acid sequence of known or putative ARGs. 24,56,59,60,68 These methods most commonly work by aligning a query sequence to known ARGs or markers from a curated database (Figure 3, top). [64][65][66][67] Sequence-based methods can be performed rapidly and in a massively parallel manner compared with culture-based methods of resistance determination.…”

Emerging Pollutants–Part I: Occurrence, Fate and Transport

“…In addition to chemical EPs, ARGs have also been found in drinking water systems. 181 ARG subtypes were detected with an abundance range of 2.8 × 10 2 to 4.2 × 10 1 copies of ARG per cell in the drinking water samples collected from 25 cities in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, South Africa, Singapore and the USA (Ma et al 2017b).…”

Antibiotic resistance in tap water during the summer season – preliminary research

“…In recent years, the occurrence of ARB and ARGs in drinking water were investigated more and more frequently [5][6][7], as it was revealed that resistance to antibiotics is often correlated with resistance to disinfectants [8,9] (however, it is worth to note that this hypothesis is still controversial, as it was stated by Lin et al [10]) and metals [11], therefore making water treatment plants (WTPs) and tap water distribution systems a niche for ARB dwelling and proliferation.…”