Suspended particles are hotspots for pathogen-related bacteria and ARGs in coastal beach waters of northern China

Bai, Mohan; He, Yaodong; Wang, Suisui; Zhang, Jiabo; Jiang, Sunny C.; Wang, Guangyi

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.153004

Cited by 18 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 56 publications

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“…4B ). Indeed, large amounts of nutrients provided beneficial conditions for nourishing microbes as well as pathogens, which could facilitate cell contact and their HGT of ARGs there (He et al, 2022; Zhao et al, 2019).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mass-immigration shapes the antibiotic resistome of wastewater treatment plants

Zhang¹,

Adyari²,

Hou³

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are the hotspots for the spread of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) into the environment. Understanding the behavior and assembly processes of ARG communities in each treatment unit in WWTPs can promote ARG surveillance and control. Despite this, current ARG surveillance in WWTPs lacks comprehensive assessments of the city-level and short-term daily variations. Thus, in this study, 285 ARGs and ten mobile gene elements (MGEs) were monitored in seven WWTPs in Xiamen via high-throughput qPCR for seven days. The results showed that the average daily load of ARG to WWTPs was about 1.21E20 copies/d, and a total of 1.44E18 copies/d was discharged to the environment across the entire city. Genes conferring resistance to beta-lactam, multidrug, aminoglycoside, and macrolide-lincosamide-streptogramin B (MLSB) were dominant. Interestingly, there was no daily difference in the richness and abundance of ARGs as well as ARG community composition. Stochastic processes were the main force determining the assembly of ARG communities in WWTPs. The relative importance of stochastic processes in each treatment unit ranked in the order of influent (INF) > effluent (EFF) > active sludge (AS). The results of SourceTracker, variation partitioning analysis (VPA) and hierarchical partitioning (HP) analysis indicated that bacterial and ARG communities from upstream treatment units played an increasing dominant role in shaping ARG communities in AS and EFF, respectively, suggesting the importance of mass-immigration of bacteria and ARGs from the source on ARG transport in wastewater treatment units. This emphasizes the need to revise the way we mitigate ARG contamination but focus on the source of ARGs in urban wastewater.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mass-immigration shapes the antibiotic resistome of wastewater treatment plants

Zhang¹,

Adyari²,

Hou³

et al. 2023

Preprint

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“…Furthermore, the higher abundances of ARGs and MGEs in the PA than in the FL fraction ( Fig. 1A ) may as well be more favorable to promote ARG exchange in the PA fraction 48,49 due to the limited space and close contact between cells on particle 48 . A shotgun metagenomics-based study on the marine environment reported that the higher abundances of ARGs and MGEs were responsible for social interactions and cell-to-cell transfer in the PA fraction rather than the FL fraction 50 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hydrological dynamics drive the transition of antibiotic resistance genes between particle-attached and free-living lifestyles in a deep freshwater reservoir

Adyari

Hou

Zhang

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Despite the growing awareness of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) spreading in the environment, there is a knowledge gap on the fate and transport of ARGs in particle-attached (PA) and free-living (FL) lifestyles in deep freshwater ecosystems experiencing seasonal hydrological changes. Here, we examined the ARG profiles using high-throughput quantitative PCR in PA and FL lifestyles at four seasons representing two hydrological seasons (i.e., vertical mixing and thermal stratification) in the Shuikou Reservoir (SR), Southern China. The results indicated that seasonal hydrological dynamics were critical for influencing ARGs in PA and FL fractions, and the transition of ARGs between the two lifestyles. Although both PA and FL ARG profiles were likely to be shaped by horizontal gene transfer, PA and FL ARGs had different responses to the changes in physico-chemicals (e.g., nutrients and dissolved oxygen) caused by seasonal hydrological dynamics. The particle-associated niche (PAN) index revealed that there were 94 non-conservative ARGs (i.e., no preferences for PA and FL), 23 conservative ARGs that preferred PA lifestyle, and 16 conservative ARGs for FL lifestyle. A sharp decline in the number of conservative ARGs in stratified seasons suggests a hydrological dynamics-dependent transition of ARGs between two lifestyles. Remarkably, the conservative ARGs (in PA or FL lifestyle) were more closely related to bacterial OTUs in their preferred lifestyle compared to their counterpart lifestyle, suggesting a lifestyle-dependent ARG enrichment. Altogether, these findings enhance our understanding of the role of seasonal hydrological changes in the dissemination of ARGs in different size fractions in deep aquatic ecosystems.

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