Microbial community functional structure in response to antibiotics in pharmaceutical wastewater treatment systems. - Related Documents




#
Rank
Similarity
Title + Abs.
Year
PMID
012345
696301.0000Microbial community functional structure in response to antibiotics in pharmaceutical wastewater treatment systems. It is widely demonstrated that antibiotics in the environment affect microbial community structure. However, direct evidence regarding the impacts of antibiotics on microbial functional structures in wastewater treatment systems is limited. Herein, a high-throughput functional gene array (GeoChip 3.0) in combination with quantitative PCR and clone libraries were used to evaluate the microbial functional structures in two biological wastewater treatment systems, which treat antibiotic production wastewater mainly containing oxytetracycline. Despite the bacteriostatic effects of antibiotics, the GeoChip detected almost all key functional gene categories, including carbon cycling, nitrogen cycling, etc., suggesting that these microbial communities were functionally diverse. Totally 749 carbon-degrading genes belonging to 40 groups (24 from bacteria and 16 from fungi) were detected. The abundance of several fungal carbon-degrading genes (e.g., glyoxal oxidase (glx), lignin peroxidase or ligninase (lip), manganese peroxidase (mnp), endochitinase, exoglucanase_genes) was significantly correlated with antibiotic concentrations (Mantel test; P < 0.05), showing that the fungal functional genes have been enhanced by the presence of antibiotics. However, from the fact that the majority of carbon-degrading genes were derived from bacteria and diverse antibiotic resistance genes were detected in bacteria, it was assumed that many bacteria could survive in the environment by acquiring antibiotic resistance and may have maintained the position as a main player in nutrient removal. Variance partitioning analysis showed that antibiotics could explain 24.4% of variations in microbial functional structure of the treatment systems. This study provides insights into the impacts of antibiotics on microbial functional structure of a unique system receiving antibiotic production wastewater, and reveals the potential importance of the cooperation between fungi and bacteria with antibiotic resistance in maintaining the stability and performance of the systems.201323981791
741910.9998The bacterial microbiota in florfenicol contaminated soils: The antibiotic resistome and the nitrogen cycle. Soil antibiotic resistome and the nitrogen cycle are affected by florfenicol addition to manured soils but their interactions have not been fully described. In the present study, antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and nitrogen cycle genes possessed by soil bacteria were characterized using real-time fluorescence quantification PCR (qPCR) and metagenomic sequencing in a short-term (30 d) soil model experiment. Florfenicol significantly changed in the abundance of genes conferring resistance to aminoglycosides, β-lactams, tetracyclines and macrolides. And the abundance of Sphingomonadaceae, the protein metabolic and nitrogen metabolic functions, as well as NO reductase, nitrate reductase, nitrite reductase and N(2)O reductase can also be affected by florfenicol. In this way, ARG types of genes conferring resistance to aminoglycosides, β-lactamases, tetracyclines, colistin, fosfomycin, phenicols and trimethoprim were closely associated with multiple nitrogen cycle genes. Actinobacteria, Chlorobi, Firmicutes, Gemmatimonadetes, Nitrospirae, Proteobacteria and Verrucomicrobia played an important role in spreading of ARGs. Moreover, soil physicochemical properties were important factors affecting the distribution of soil flora. This study provides a theoretical basis for further exploration of the transmission regularity and interference mechanism of ARGs in soil bacteria responsible for nitrogen cycle.202032023788
851620.9998Graphene Oxide Inhibits Antibiotic Uptake and Antibiotic Resistance Gene Propagation. Antibiotics and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in the natural environment have become substantial threats to the ecosystem and public health. Effective strategies to control antibiotics and ARG contaminations are emergent. A novel carbon nanomaterial, graphene oxide (GO), has attracted a substantial amount of attention in environmental fields. This study discovered the inhibition effects of GO on sulfamethoxazole (SMZ) uptake for bacteria and ARG transfer among microorganisms. GO promoted the penetration of SMZ from intracellular to extracellular environments by increasing the cell membrane permeability. In addition, the formation of a GO-SMZ complex reduced the uptake of SMZ in bacteria. Moreover, GO decreased the abundance of the sulI and intI genes by approximately 2-3 orders of magnitude, but the global bacterial activity was not obviously inhibited. A class I integron transfer experiment showed that the transfer frequency was up to 55-fold higher in the control than that of the GO-treated groups. Genetic methylation levels were not significant while sulI gene replication was inhibited. The biological properties of ARGs were altered due to the GO-ARG noncovalent combination, which was confirmed using multiple spectral analyses. This work suggests that GO can potentially be applied for controlling ARG contamination via inhibiting antibiotic uptake and ARG propagation.201627934199
702930.9998Filamentous bacteria-induced sludge bulking can alter antibiotic resistance gene profiles and increase potential risks in wastewater treatment systems. Sludge bulking caused by filamentous bacteria is a prevalent issue in wastewater treatment systems. While previous studies have primarily concentrated on controlling sludge bulking, the biological risks associated with it have been overlooked. This study demonstrates that excessive growth of filamentous bacteria during sludge bulking can significantly increase the abundance of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in activated sludge. Through metagenomic analysis, we identified specific ARGs carried by filamentous bacteria, such as Sphaerotilus and Thiothrix, which are responsible for bulking. Additionally, by examining over 1,000 filamentous bacterial genomes, we discovered a diverse array of ARGs across different filamentous bacteria derived from wastewater treatment systems. Our findings indicate that 74.84% of the filamentous bacteria harbor at least one ARG, with the occurrence frequency of ARGs in these bacteria being approximately 1.5 times higher than that in the overall bacterial population in activated sludge. Furthermore, genomic and metagenomic analyses have shown that the ARGs in filamentous bacteria are closely linked to mobile genetic elements and are frequently found in potentially pathogenic bacteria, highlighting potential risks posed by these filamentous bacteria. These insights enhance our understanding of ARGs in activated sludge and underscore the importance of risk management in wastewater treatment systems.202439094405
745740.9998Metagenomic Insights Into the Changes of Antibiotic Resistance and Pathogenicity Factor Pools Upon Thermophilic Composting of Human Excreta. In times of climate change, practicing a form of sustainable, climate-resilient and productive agriculture is of primordial importance. Compost could be one form of sustainable fertilizer, which is increasing humus, water holding capacity, and nutrient contents of soils. It could thereby strengthen agriculture toward the adverse effects of climate change, especially when additionally combined with biochar. To get access to sufficient amounts of suitable materials for composting, resources, which are currently treated as waste, such as human excreta, could be a promising option. However, the safety of the produced compost regarding human pathogens, pharmaceuticals (like antibiotics) and related resistance genes must be considered. In this context, we have investigated the effect of 140- and 154-days of thermophilic composting on the hygienization of human excreta and saw dust from dry toilets together with straw and green cuttings with and without addition of biochar. Compost samples were taken at the beginning and end of the composting process and metagenomic analysis was conducted to assess the fate of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and pathogenicity factors of the microbial community over composting. Potential ARGs conferring resistance to major classes of antibiotics, such as beta-lactam antibiotics, vancomycin, the MLS(B) group, aminoglycosides, tetracyclines and quinolones were detected in all samples. However, relative abundance of ARGs decreased from the beginning to the end of composting. This trend was also found for genes encoding type III, type IV, and type VI secretion systems, that are involved in pathogenicity, protein effector transport into eukaryotic cells and horizontal gene transfer between bacteria, respectively. The results suggest that the occurrence of potentially pathogenic microorganisms harboring ARGs declines during thermophilic composting. Nevertheless, ARG levels did not decline below the detection limit of quantitative PCR (qPCR). Thresholds for the usage of compost regarding acceptable resistance gene levels are yet to be evaluated and defined.202235432262
720150.9998Evolution of microbial community and drug resistance during enrichment of tetracycline-degrading bacteria. Recently, the microbial degradation of tetracycline has been widely reported. However, its potential risks in treating wastewater containing high concentrations of tetracycline have not been fully evaluated. In this study, the evolution of the microbial community and drug resistance was traced during the enrichment of tetracycline-degrading bacteria. The results showed that some minor compositions such as Shewanella, Bacillus, and Pseudomonas in the seed sludge became the predominant genera in the enrichment cultures when continuously using tetracycline as the sole carbon source, especially some possible pathogenic bacteria increased significantly in this process. The abundances of most TRGs/16S rDNA were increased after enrichment, although the relative abundance of tetA and tetL genes decreased to some extent. From the enrichment culture, 7 predominant tetracycline-degrading strains were isolated, of which TD-1 (Bacillus) and TD-5 (Shewanella) presented high degradation efficiencies (6-day degradation rate > 95%, half-life period of tetracycline ≈ 24 h). In addition, multiple TRGs, mobile genetic elements (MGEs) and even gene cassettes were found in each tetracycline-degrading isolate. The findings suggested that some risks such as the pathogenicity of isolates and the spread of ARGs should be considered when the biodegradation method is used to treat wastewater polluted with high concentrations of tetracycline.201930660087
747060.9998Oil-contaminated sites act as high-risk pathogen reservoirs previously overlooked in coastal zones. In addition to the organic pollutants and disturbance to the microbial, plant and animal systems, oil contamination can also enrich opportunistic pathogens. But little is known about whether and how the most common coastal oil-contaminated water bodies act as reservoirs for pathogens. Here, we delved into the characteristics of pathogenic bacteria in coastal zones by constructing seawater-based microcosms with diesel oil as a pollutant. 16S rRNA gene full-length sequencing and genomic exploration revealed that pathogenic bacteria with genes involved in alkane or aromatic degradation were significantly enriched under oil contamination, providing a genetic basis for them to thrive in oil-contaminated seawater. Moreover, high-throughput qPCR assays showed an increased abundance of the virulence gene and enrichment in antibiotics resistance genes (ARGs), especially those related to multidrug resistance efflux pumps, and their high relevance to Pseudomonas, enabling this genus to achieve high levels of pathogenicity and environmental adaptation. More importantly, infection experiments with a culturable P. aeruginosa strain isolated from an oil-contaminated microcosm provided clear evidence that the environmental strain was pathogenic to grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idellus), and the highest lethality rate was found in the oil pollutant treatment, demonstrating the synergistic effect of toxic oil pollutants and pathogens on infected fish. A global genomic investigation then revealed that diverse environmental pathogenic bacteria with oil degradation potential are widely distributed in marine environments, especially in coastal zones, suggesting extensive pathogenic reservoir risks in oil-contaminated sites. Overall, the study uncovered a hidden microbial risk, showing that oil-contaminated seawater could be a high-risk pathogen reservoir, and provides new insights and potential targets for environmental risk assessment and control.202337329716
720270.9998Cyanobacterial extracellular antibacterial substances could promote the spread of antibiotic resistance: impacts and reasons. Many studies have shown that antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) can be facilitated by a variety of antibacterial substances. Cyanobacteria are photosynthetic bacteria that are widely distributed in the ocean. Some extracellular substances produced by marine cyanobacteria have been found to possess antibacterial activity. However, the impact of these extracellular substances on ARGs is unclear. Therefore, we established groups of seawater microcosms that contained different concentrations (1000, 100, 10, 1, 0.1, 0.01, and 0 μg mL(-1)) of cyanobacterial extracellular substances (CES), and tracked the changes of 17 types of ARGs, the integron gene (intI1), as well as the bacterial community at different time points. The results showed that CES could enrich most ARGs (15/17) in the initial stage, particularly at low concentrations (10 and 100 μg mL(-1)). The correlation analysis showed a positive correlation between several ARGs and intI1. It is suggested that the abundance of intI1 increased with CES may contribute to the changes of these ARGs, and co-resistance of CES may be the underlying reason for the similar variation pattern of some ARGs. Moreover, the results of qPCR and high-throughput sequencing of 16S rRNA showed that CES had an inhibitory impact on the growth of bacterial communities. High concentrations of CES were found to alter the structure of bacterial communities. Co-occurrence networks showed that bacteria elevated in the high concentration group of CES and might serve as the potential hosts for a variety of ARGs. In general, marine cyanobacteria could play an important role in the global dissemination of ARGs and antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARBs).202337947439
696480.9997Metagenomic approach reveals the role of bioagents in the environmental dissemination risk of rhizosphere soil antibiotic resistance genes pollution. Antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) have been identified as emerging contaminants, raising concerns around the world. As environmentally friendly bioagents (BA), plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) have been used in agricultural systems. The introduction of BA will lead to the turnover of the microbial communities structure. Nevertheless, it is still unclear how the colonization of the invaded microorganisms could affects the rhizosphere resistome. Consequently, 190 ARGs and 25 integrative and conjugative elements (ICEs) were annotated using the metagenomic approach in 18 samples from the Solanaceae crop rhizosphere soil under BA and conventional treatment (CK) groups. Our study found that, after 90 days of treatment, ARG abundance was lower in the CK group than in the BA group. The results showed that aminoglycoside antibiotic resistance (OprZ), phenicol antibiotic resistance (OprN), aminoglycoside antibiotic resistance (ceoA/B), aminocoumarin antibiotic resistance (mdtB) and phenicol antibiotic resistance (MexW) syntenic with ICEs. Moreover, in 11 sequences, OprN (phenicol antibiotic resistance) was observed to have synteny with ICEPaeLESB58-1, indicating that the ICEs could contribute to the spread of ARGs. Additionally, the binning result showed that the potential bacterial hosts of the ARGs were beneficial bacteria which could promote the nutrition cycle, such as Haliangium, Nitrospira, Sideroxydans, Burkholderia, etc, suggesting that bacterial hosts have a great influence on ARG profiles. According to the findings, considering the dissemination of ARGs, BA should be applied with caution, especially the use of beneficial bacteria in BA. In a nutshell, this study offers valuable insights into ARGs pollution control from the perspective of the development and application of BA, to make effective strategies for blocking pollution risk migration in the ecological environment.202439374754
674290.9997Influence of epiphytic bacteria on arsenic metabolism in Hydrilla verticillata. Microbial assemblages such as biofilms around aquatic plants play a major role in arsenic (As) cycling, which has often been overlooked in previous studies. In this study, arsenite (As(III))-oxidizing, arsenate (As(V))-reducing and As(III)-methylating bacteria were found to coexist in the phyllosphere of Hydrilla verticillata, and their relative activities were shown to determine As speciation, accumulation and efflux. When exposed to As(III), As(III) oxidation was not observed in treatment H(III)-B, whereas treatment H(III)+B showed a significant As(III) oxidation ability, thereby indicating that epiphytic bacteria displayed a substantial As(III) oxidation ability. When exposed to As(V), the medium only contained 5.89% As(III) after 48 h of treatment H(V)-B, while an As(III) content of 86.72% was observed after treatment H(V)+B, thereby indicating that the elevated As(III) in the medium probably originated from As(V) reduction by epiphytic bacteria. Our data also indicated that oxidizing bacteria decreased the As accumulation (by approximately 64.44% compared with that of treatment H(III)-B) in plants, while reducing bacteria played a critical role in increasing As accumulation (by approximately 3.31-fold compared with that of treatment H(V)-B) in plants. Regardless of whether As(III) or As(V) was supplied, As(III) was dominant in the plant tissue (over 75%). Furthermore, the presence of epiphytic bacteria enhanced As efflux by approximately 9-fold. Metagenomic analysis revealed highly diverse As metabolism genes in epiphytic bacterial community, particularly those related to energetic metabolism (aioAB), and As resistance (arsABCR, acr3, arsM). Phylogenetic analysis of As metabolism genes revealed evidence of both vertical inheritance and horizontal gene transfer, which might have contributed to the evolution of the As metabolism genes. Taken together, our research suggested that the diversity of As metabolism genes in epiphytic bacterial community is associated with aquatic submerged macrophytes which may play an important role in As biogeochemistry in aquatic environments.202032114122
3860100.9997Mobility of antibiotic resistance and its co-occurrence with metal resistance in pathogens under oxidative stress. The bacterial communities are challenged with oxidative stress during their exposure to bactericidal antibiotics, metals, and different levels of dissolved oxygen (DO) encountered in diverse environmental habitats. The frequency of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and metal resistance genes (MRGs) co-selection is increased by selective pressure posed by oxidative stress. Hence, study of resistance acquisition is important from an evolutionary perspective. To understand the dependence of oxidative stress on the dissemination of ARGs and MRGs through a pathogenic bacterial population, 12 metagenomes belonging to gut, water and soil habitats were evaluated. The metagenome-wide analysis showed the chicken gut to pose the most diverse pool of ARGs (30.4 ppm) and pathogenic bacteria (Simpson diversity = 0.98). The most common types of resistances found in all the environmental samples were efflux pumps (13.22 ppm) and genes conferring resistance to vancomycin (12.4 ppm), tetracycline (12.1 ppm), or beta-lactam (9.4 ppm) antibiotics. Additionally, limiting DO level in soil was observed to increase the abundance of excision nucleases (uvrA and uvrB), DNA polymerase (polA), catalases (katG), and other oxidative stress response genes (OSGs). This was further evident from major variations occurred in antibiotic efflux genes due to the effect of DO concentration on two human pathogens, namely Salmonella enterica and Shigella sonnei found in all the selected habitats. In conclusion, the microbial community, when challenged with oxidative stress caused by environmental variations in oxygen level, tends to accumulate higher amounts of ARGs with increased dissemination potential through triggering non-lethal mutagenesis. Furthermore, the genetic linkage or co-occurrence of ARGs and MRGs provides evidence for selecting ARGs under high concentrations of heavy metals.202134298350
6888110.9997Viral Communities Contribute More to the Lysis of Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria than the Transduction of Antibiotic Resistance Genes in Anaerobic Digestion Revealed by Metagenomics. Ecological role of the viral community on the fate of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) (reduction vs proliferation) remains unclear in anaerobic digestion (AD). Metagenomics revealed a dominance of Siphoviridae and Podoviridae among 13,895 identified viral operational taxonomic units (vOTUs) within AD, and only 21 of the vOTUs carried ARGs, which only accounted for 0.57 ± 0.43% of AD antibiotic resistome. Conversely, ARGs locating on plasmids and integrative and conjugative elements accounted for above 61.0%, indicating a substantial potential for conjugation in driving horizontal gene transfer of ARGs within AD. Virus-host prediction based on CRISPR spacer, tRNA, and homology matches indicated that most viruses (80.2%) could not infect across genera. Among 480 high-quality metagenome assembly genomes, 95 carried ARGs and were considered as putative antibiotic-resistant bacteria (pARB). Furthermore, lytic phages of 66 pARBs were identified and devoid of ARGs, and virus/host abundance ratios with an average value of 71.7 indicated extensive viral activity and lysis. The infectivity of lytic phage was also elucidated through laboratory experiments concerning changes of the phage-to-host ratio, pH, and temperature. Although metagenomic evidence for dissemination of ARGs by phage transduction was found, the higher proportion of lytic phages infecting pARBs suggested that the viral community played a greater role in reducing ARB numbers than spreading ARGs in AD.202438267392
7031120.9997Free-living lifestyle preferences drive the antibiotic resistance promotion during drinking water chlorination. The risk associated with antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in size-fractionated bacterial community during drinking water chlorination remains unclear, and is of paramount importance for risk mitigation through process selection and optimization. This study employed metagenomic approaches to reveal the alterations of ARGs, their potential functions and hosts within the free-living and particle-associated fractions. The total relative abundance of ARGs, mobile genetic elements (MGEs), and virulence factor genes (VFGs) significantly increased in the free-living fraction after chlorination. The contribution of the free-living fraction to the ARG relative abundance rose from 16.40 ± 1.31 % to 93.62 ± 0.47 % after chlorination. Multidrug resistance genes (e.g. mexF and mexW) were major contributors, and their co-occurrence with MGEs in the free-living fraction was enhanced after chlorination. Considering multiple perspectives, including presence, mobility, and pathogenicity, chlorination led to a significant risk of the antibiotic resistome in the free-living fraction. Moreover, potential functions of ARGs, such as cell wall/membrane/envelope biogenesis, defense mechanisms, and transcription in the free-living fraction, were intensified following chlorination. Potential pathogens, including Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Pseudomonas alcaligenes, and Acinetobacter junii, were identified as the predominant hosts of multidrug resistance genes, with their increased abundances primarily contributing to the rise of the corresponding ARGs. Overall, alterations of hosts as well as enhancing mobility and biological functions could collectively aid the proliferation and spread of ARGs in the free-living fraction after chlorination. This study provides novel insights into antibiotic resistance evolution in size-fractionated bacteria community and offers a management strategy for microbiological safety in drinking water.202438043346
3859130.9997Co-selection of antibiotic resistance via copper shock loading on bacteria from a drinking water bio-filter. Heavy metal contamination of source water frequently occurred in developing countries as a result of accidents. To address the problems, most of the previous studies have focused on engineering countermeasures. In this study, we investigated the effects of heavy metals, particularly copper, on the development of antibiotic resistance by establishing a copper shock loading test. Results revealed that co-selection occurred rapidly within 6 h. Copper, at the levels of 10 and 100 mg/L, significantly increased bacterial resistance to the antibiotics tested, including rifampin, erythromycin, kanamycin, and a few others. A total of 117 antimicrobial-resistance genes were detected from 12 types of genes, and the relative abundance of most genes (particularly mobile genetic elements intⅠand transposons) was markedly enriched by at least one fold. Furthermore, the copper shock loading altered the bacterial community. Numerous heavy metal and antibiotic resistant strains were screened out and enriched. These strains are expected to enhance the overall level of resistance. More noticeably, the majority of the co-selected antibiotic resistance could sustain for at least 20 h in the absence of copper and antimicrobial drugs. Resistance to vancomycin, erythromycin and lincomycin even could remain for 7 days. The prominent selection pressure by the copper shock loading implies that a real accident most likely poses similar impacts on the water environment. An accidental release of heavy metals would not only cause harm to the ecological environment, but also contribute to the development of bacterial antibiotic resistance. Broader concerns should be raised about the biological risks caused by sudden releases of pollutants by accidents.201829059628
7627140.9997Fish skin mucosal surface becomes a barrier of antibiotic resistance genes under apramycin exposure. Antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) are a kind of emerging environmental contamination, and are commonly found in antibiotic application situations, attracting wide attention. Fish skin mucosal surface (SMS), as the contact interface between fish and water, is the first line of defense against external pollutant invasion. Antibiotics are widely used in aquaculture, and SMS may be exposed to antibiotics. However, what happens to SMS when antibiotics are applied, and whether ARGs are enriched in SMS are not clear. In this study, Zebrafish (Danio rerio) were exposed to antibiotic and antibiotic resistant bacteria in the laboratory to simulate the aquaculture situation, and the effects of SMS on the spread of ARGs were explored. The results showed that SMS maintained the stability of the bacterial abundance and diversity under apramycin (APR) and bacterial exposure effectively. Until 11 days after stopping APR exposure, the abundance of ARGs in SMS (mean value was 3.32 × 10(-3) copies/16S rRNA copies) still did not recover to the initial stage before exposure, which means that enriched ARGs in SMS were persistently remained. Moreover, non-specific immunity played an important role in resisting infection of external contamination. Besides, among antioxidant proteins, superoxide dismutase showed the highest activity. Consequently, it showed that SMS became a barrier of antibiotic resistance genes under APR exposure, and ARGs in SMS were difficult to remove once colonized. This study provided a reference for understanding the transmission, enrichment process, and ecological impact of antibiotics and ARGs in aquatic environments.202438615788
6958150.9997Impacts of sulfamethoxazole stress on vegetable growth and rhizosphere bacteria and the corresponding mitigation mechanism. Antibiotics are an important pharmaceutical class excessively used by humans. Its presence in the soil can impact plant growth and induce antibiotic resistance. This research studies the effect of sulfamethoxazole (SMX) on plant growth, rhizosphere bacteria composition, and resistance genes. Two sets of vegetables (basil, cilantro, and spinach) were treated separately with water and SMX solution. The plant growth data and soil samples were collected and analyzed. The results revealed that SMX increased spinach leaf length (34.0%) while having no significant impacts on basil and cilantro. On the other hand, SMX improved the bacterial diversity in all samples. The shifts in the abundance of plant growth-promoting bacteria could indirectly affect vegetable stem and leaf length. SMX also significantly increased the abundance of resistance genes Sul1 and Sul2. A further study into the correlation between bacteria highlights the importance of Shingomonas and Alfipia for inhibiting the spread of key resistance gene hosts, namely, Pseudomonas, Stenotrophomonas, and Agrobacterium. This research provides insight into SMX's impact on vegetable growth and microbial diversity. It also points out important microbial interactions that could potentially be utilized to mitigate ARG proliferation.202438390364
7630160.9997Coexistence of silver ion and tetracycline at environmentally relevant concentrations greatly enhanced antibiotic resistance gene development in activated sludge bioreactor. Antibiotic resistance has become a global public health problem. Recently, various environmental pollutants have been reported to induce the proliferation of antibiotic resistance. However, the impact of multiple pollutants (e.g., heavy metals and antibiotics), which more frequently occur in practical environments, is poorly understood. Herein, one widely distributed heavy metal (Ag(+)) and one frequently detected antibiotic (tetracycline) were chosen to investigate their coexisting effect on the proliferation of antibiotic resistance in the activated sludge system. Results show that the co-occurrence of Ag(+) and tetracycline at environmentally relevant concentrations exhibited no distinct inhibition in reactor performances. However, they inhibited the respiratory activity by 42%, destroyed the membrane structure by 218%, and increased membrane permeability by 29% compared with the blank control bioreactor. Moreover, the relative abundances of target antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) (e.g., tetA, bla(TEM-1), and sulII) in effluent after exposure of coexisting Ag(+) and tetracycline were increased by 92-1983% compared with those in control reactor, which were 1.1-4.3 folds higher than the sum of the sole ones. These were possibly attributed to the enrichments of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The results would illumine the coexisting effect of heavy metals and antibiotics on the dissemination of ARGs in activated sludge system.202234482077
7511170.9997Antibiotic resistome promotion in drinking water during biological activated carbon treatment: Is it influenced by quorum sensing? The contamination of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in drinking water may pose a direct threat to human health. This study applied high-throughput qPCR and sequencing to investigate the dynamics of ARGs and bacterial communities during the advanced treatment of drinking water using biological activated carbon. The promotion of ARGs was observed, and the normalized copy number of ARGs increased significantly after BAC treatment, raising the number of detected ARGs from 84 to 159. Twenty-nine ARGs were identified as biofilm-influencing sources in the BAC, and they persisted after chlorination. The shift of bacterial communities primarily had effects on the changes in resistome. Firmicutes, Cyanobacteria were related to persistent ARGs mostly in the BAC biofilm. Meanwhile, the Acyl-Homoserine Lactones (AHLs), quorum sensing molecules, and bacteria that produced AHLs were identified to understand the promotion of ARGs. The isolated AHL-producing bacteria belonged to the Proteobacteria, Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes phyla. Six detectable AHLs had an influence on plasmid-based horizontal gene transfer in the intragenus mating systems, indicating that the dynamics of ARGs were strongly affected by quorum sensing between specific bacteria in the biofilm. These results provide new insight into the mechanism of antibiotic resistome promotion in BAC biofilms.201828846900
7299180.9997Short-term exposure to benzalkonium chloride in bacteria from activated sludge alters the community diversity and the antibiotic resistance profile. The continuous introduction of cleaning products containing benzalkonium chloride (BAC) from household discharges can mold the microbial communities in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in a way still poorly understood. In this study, we performed an in vitro exposure of activated sludge from a WWTP in Costa Rica to BAC, quantified the changes in intI1, sul2, and qacE/qacEΔ1 gene profiles, and determined alterations in the bacterial community composition. The analysis of the qPCR data revealed elevated charges of antibiotic resistance genes in the microbial community; after BAC's exposure, a significant increase in the qacE/qacEΔ1 gene, which is related to ammonium quaternary resistance, was observed. The 16S rRNA gene sequences' analysis showed pronounced variations in the structure of the bacterial communities, including reduction of the alpha diversity values and an increase of the relative abundance of Alphaproteobacteria, particularly of Rhodospseudomonas and Rhodobacter. We confirmed that the microbial communities presented high resilience to BAC at the mg/mL concentration, probably due to constant exposure to this pollutant. They also presented antibiotic resistance-related genes with similar mechanisms to tolerate this substance. These mechanisms should be explored more thoroughly, especially in the context of high use of disinfectant.202134874898
7518190.9997Deciphering the toxic effects of metals in gold mining area: Microbial community tolerance mechanism and change of antibiotic resistance genes. Mine tailing dumps represent significant threats to ecological environments due to the presence of toxic substances. The present work investigated the relationship among microbial activity, the community, antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and trace metals in soil surrounding gold mine tailings. Using microbial metabolic activity and high-throughput sequencing analysis, we found the trace metals Cd and Hg could be main factors influencing the microbial community. According to bacterial co-occurrence pattern analysis, the effects of total cadmium and total mercury on bacterial diversity are potentially mediated by influencing bacteria community in the keystone module II. Additionally, most of metal-resistant bacteria belong to Actinobacteria and Proteobacteria, and the metal tolerance suggested to be linked with various functions including replication, recombination and repair, as well as inorganic ion transport and metabolism based on PICRUSt2 analysis. We also found that metals generated by mining activity may trigger the co-selection of antibiotic resistance in the phyla Actinobacteria and Proteobacteria due to co-resistance or cross resistance. Additionally, PLS-PM analysis revealed that metals could indirectly affect ARGs by influencing bacterial diversity in gold mining areas.202032678731