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Shamsizadeh Z, Nikaeen M, Mohammadi F, Farhadkhani M, Mokhtari M, Ehrampoush MH. Wastewater surveillance of antibiotic resistance and class 1 integron-integrase genes: Potential impact of wastewater characteristics on genes profile. Heliyon 2024; 10:e29601. [PMID: 38765125 PMCID: PMC11098788 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e29601] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/27/2023] [Revised: 03/25/2024] [Accepted: 04/10/2024] [Indexed: 05/21/2024] Open
Abstract
Antibiotic resistance (AR) is a major global health concern, but current surveillance efforts primarily focus on healthcare settings, leaving a lack of understanding about AR across all sectors of the One Health approach. To bridge this gap, wastewater surveillance provides a cost-effective and efficient method for monitoring AR within a population. In this study, we implemented a surveillance program by monitoring the wastewater effluent from two large-scale municipal treatment plants situated in Isfahan, a central region of Iran. These treatment plants covered distinct catchment regions and served a combined population about two million of residents. Furthermore, the effect of physicochemical and microbial characteristics of wastewater effluent including biological oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD), total suspended solids (TSS), temperature, total coliforms and Escherichia coli concentration on the abundance of ARGs (blaCTX-M, tetW, sul1, cmlA, and ermB) and class 1 integron-integrase gene (intI1) were investigated. Sul1 and blaCTX-M were the most and least abundant ARGs in the two WWTPs, respectively. Principal Component Analysis showed that in both of the WWTPs all ARGs and intI1 gene abundance were positively correlated with effluent temperature, but all other effluent characteristics (BOD, COD, TSS, total coliforms and E. coli) showed no significant correlation with ARGs abundance. Temperature could affect the performance of conventional activated sludge process, which in turn could affect the abundance of ARGs. The results of this study suggest that other factors than BOD, COD and TSS may affect the ARGs abundance. The predicted AR could lead to development of effective interventions and policies to combat AR in the clinical settings. However, further research is needed to determine the relationship between the AR in wastewater and clinical settings as well as the effect of other influential factors on ARGs abundance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zahra Shamsizadeh
- Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Health, Larestan University of Medical Sciences, Larestan, Iran
- Environmental Science and Technology Research Center, Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Public Health, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran
| | - Mahnaz Nikaeen
- Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Health, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran
| | - Farzaneh Mohammadi
- Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Health, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran
| | - Marzieh Farhadkhani
- Educational Development Center, Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences, Shahrekord, Iran
| | - Mehdi Mokhtari
- Environmental Science and Technology Research Center, Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Public Health, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran
| | - Mohammad Hassan Ehrampoush
- Environmental Science and Technology Research Center, Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Public Health, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran
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Chen H, Ng C, Tran NH, Haller L, Goh SG, Charles FR, Wu Z, Lim JX, Gin KYH. Removal efficiency of antibiotic residues, antibiotic resistant bacteria, and genes across parallel secondary settling tank and membrane bioreactor treatment trains in a water reclamation plant. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2024; 924:171723. [PMID: 38492595 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.171723] [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: 12/07/2023] [Revised: 02/07/2024] [Accepted: 03/12/2024] [Indexed: 03/18/2024]
Abstract
Antimicrobial resistance is recognized as a potent threat to human health. Wastewater treatment facilities are viewed as hotspots for the spread of antimicrobial resistance. This study provides comprehensive data on the occurrences of 3 different antibiotic resistant opportunistic pathogens (with resistance to up to 5 antibiotics), 13 antibiotic resistant genes and intI1, and 22 different antimicrobial residues in a large water reclamation plant (176 million gallons per day) that runs a conventional Modified Ludzack-Ettinger (MLE) reactor followed by a secondary settling tank (SST) and membrane bioreactor (MBR) in parallel. All the antibiotic resistant bacteria and most of the antibiotic resistance genes were present in the raw influent, ranging from 2.5 × 102-3.7 × 106 CFU/mL and 1.2× 10-1-6.5 × 1010 GCN/mL, respectively. MBR outperformed the SST system in terms of ARB removal as the ARB targets were largely undetected in MBR effluent, with log removals ranging from 2.7 to 6.8, while SST only had log removals ranging from 0.27 to 4.6. Most of the ARG concentrations were found to have significantly higher in SST effluent than MBR permeate, and MBR had significantly higher removal efficiency for most targets (p < 0.05) except for sul1, sul2, blaOXA48, intI1 and 16S rRNA genes (p > 0.05). As for the antibiotic residues (AR), there was no significant removal from the start to the end of the treatment process, although MBR had higher removal efficiencies for azithromycin, chloramphenicol, erythromycin, erythromycin-H2O, lincomycin, sulfamethoxazole and triclosan, compared to the SST system. In conclusion, MBR outperformed SST in terms of ARB and ARGs removal. However low removal efficiencies of most AR targets were apparent.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hongjie Chen
- Antimicrobial Resistance Interdisciplinary Research Group, Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology, 1 Create Way, Singapore 138602, Singapore
| | - Charmaine Ng
- NUS Environmental Research Institute (NERI), National University of Singapore, T-Lab Building (#02-01), 5A Engineering Drive 1, Singapore 117411, Singapore
| | - Ngoc Han Tran
- NUS Environmental Research Institute (NERI), National University of Singapore, T-Lab Building (#02-01), 5A Engineering Drive 1, Singapore 117411, Singapore
| | - Laurence Haller
- NUS Environmental Research Institute (NERI), National University of Singapore, T-Lab Building (#02-01), 5A Engineering Drive 1, Singapore 117411, Singapore
| | - Shin Giek Goh
- NUS Environmental Research Institute (NERI), National University of Singapore, T-Lab Building (#02-01), 5A Engineering Drive 1, Singapore 117411, Singapore
| | - Francis Rathinam Charles
- NUS Environmental Research Institute (NERI), National University of Singapore, T-Lab Building (#02-01), 5A Engineering Drive 1, Singapore 117411, Singapore
| | - Zhixin Wu
- NUS Environmental Research Institute (NERI), National University of Singapore, T-Lab Building (#02-01), 5A Engineering Drive 1, Singapore 117411, Singapore
| | - Jit Xin Lim
- NUS Environmental Research Institute (NERI), National University of Singapore, T-Lab Building (#02-01), 5A Engineering Drive 1, Singapore 117411, Singapore
| | - Karina Yew-Hoong Gin
- NUS Environmental Research Institute (NERI), National University of Singapore, T-Lab Building (#02-01), 5A Engineering Drive 1, Singapore 117411, Singapore; Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, National University of Singapore, Block E1A-07-03, 1 Engineering Drive 2, 117576, Singapore.
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3
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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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4
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Rivadulla M, Lois M, Elena AX, Balboa S, Suarez S, Berendonk TU, Romalde JL, Garrido JM, Omil F. Occurrence and fate of CECs (OMPs, ARGs and pathogens) during decentralised treatment of black water and grey water. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2024; 915:169863. [PMID: 38190906 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.169863] [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: 08/31/2023] [Revised: 12/13/2023] [Accepted: 12/31/2023] [Indexed: 01/10/2024]
Abstract
Decentralised wastewater treatment is becoming a suitable strategy to reduce cost and environmental impact. In this research, the performance of two technologies treating black water (BW) and grey water (GW) fractions of urban sewage is carried out in a decentralised treatment of the wastewater produced in three office buildings. An Anaerobic Membrane Bioreactor (AnMBR) treating BW and a Hybrid preanoxic Membrane Bioreactor (H-MBR) containing small plastic carrier elements, treating GW were operated at pilot scale. Their potential on reducing the release of contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) such as Organic Micropollutants (OMPs), Antibiotic Resistance Genes (ARGs) and pathogens was studied. After 226 d of operation, a stable operation was achieved in both systems: the AnMBR removed 92.4 ± 2.5 % of influent COD, and H-MBR removed 89.7 ± 3.5 %. Regarding OMPs, the profile of compounds differed between BW and GW, being BW the matrix with more compounds detected at higher concentrations (up to μg L-1). For example, in the case of ibuprofen the concentrations in BW were 23.63 ± 3.97 μg L-1, 3 orders of magnitude higher than those detected in GW. The most abundant ARGs were sulfonamide resistant genes (sul1) and integron class 1 (intl1) in both BW and GW. Pathogenic bacteria counts were reduced between 1 and 3 log units in the AnMBR. Bacterial loads in GW were much lower than in BW, being no bacterial re-growth observed for the GW effluents after treatment in the H-MBR. None of the selected enteric viruses was detected in GW treatment line.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Rivadulla
- CRETUS, Department of Chemical Engineering, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, Spain.
| | - M Lois
- CRETUS, Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, CIBUS-Facultade de Bioloxía, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain
| | - A X Elena
- Technische Universität Dresden, Institute of Hydrobiology, Dresden, Germany
| | - S Balboa
- CRETUS, Department of Chemical Engineering, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, Spain
| | - S Suarez
- CRETUS, Department of Chemical Engineering, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, Spain
| | - T U Berendonk
- Technische Universität Dresden, Institute of Hydrobiology, Dresden, Germany
| | - J L Romalde
- CRETUS, Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, CIBUS-Facultade de Bioloxía, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain
| | - J M Garrido
- CRETUS, Department of Chemical Engineering, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, Spain
| | - F Omil
- CRETUS, Department of Chemical Engineering, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, Spain
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Xu M, Gao P, Chen HQ, Shen XX, Xu RZ, Cao JS. Metagenomic insight into the prevalence and driving forces of antibiotic resistance genes in the whole process of three full-scale wastewater treatment plants. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT 2023; 344:118369. [PMID: 37356328 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.118369] [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: 03/03/2023] [Revised: 05/17/2023] [Accepted: 06/08/2023] [Indexed: 06/27/2023]
Abstract
The spread of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) is an emerging global health concern, and wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), as an essential carrier for the occurrence and transmission of ARGs, deserves more attention. Based on the Illumina NovaSeq high-throughput sequencing platform, this study conducted a metagenomic analysis of 18 samples from three full-scale WWTPs to explore the fate of ARGs in the whole process (influent, biochemical treatment, advanced treatment, and effluent) of wastewater treatment. Total 70 ARG subtypes were detected, among which multidrug, aminoglycoside, tetracycline, and macrolide ARGs were most abundant. The different treatment processes used for three WWTPs were capable of reducing ARG diversity, but did not significantly reduce ARG abundance. Compared to that by denitrification filters, the membrane bioreactor (MBR) process was advantageous in controlling the prevalence of multidrug ARGs in WWTPs. Linear discriminant analysis Effect Size (LEfSe) suggested g_Nitrospira, g_Curvibacter, and g_Mycobacterium as the key bacteria responsible for differential ARG prevalence among different WWTPs. Meanwhile, adeF, sul1, and mtrA were the persistent antibiotic resistance genes (PARGs) and played dominant roles in the prevalence of ARGs. Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria were the host bacteria of majority ARGs in WWTPs, while Pseudomonas and Nitrospira were the most crucial host bacteria influencing the dissemination of critical ARGs (e.g., adeF). In addition, microbial richness was determined to be the decisive factor affecting the diversity and abundance of ARGs in wastewater treatment processes. Overall, regulating the abundance of microorganisms and key host bacteria by selecting processes with microbial interception, such as MBR process, may be beneficial to control the prevalence of ARGs in WWTPs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ming Xu
- Key Laboratory of Integrated Regulation and Resource Development on Shallow Lakes, Ministry of Education, College of Environment, Hohai University, Nanjing, 210098, China; College of Environment, Hohai University, Nanjing, 210098, China
| | - Peng Gao
- Key Laboratory of Integrated Regulation and Resource Development on Shallow Lakes, Ministry of Education, College of Environment, Hohai University, Nanjing, 210098, China; College of Environment, Hohai University, Nanjing, 210098, China
| | - Hao-Qiang Chen
- Key Laboratory of Integrated Regulation and Resource Development on Shallow Lakes, Ministry of Education, College of Environment, Hohai University, Nanjing, 210098, China; College of Environment, Hohai University, Nanjing, 210098, China
| | - Xiao-Xiao Shen
- State Key Laboratory of Hydrology-Water Resources and Hydraulic Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing, 210098, China.
| | - Run-Ze Xu
- Key Laboratory of Integrated Regulation and Resource Development on Shallow Lakes, Ministry of Education, College of Environment, Hohai University, Nanjing, 210098, China; College of Environment, Hohai University, Nanjing, 210098, China
| | - Jia-Shun Cao
- Key Laboratory of Integrated Regulation and Resource Development on Shallow Lakes, Ministry of Education, College of Environment, Hohai University, Nanjing, 210098, China; College of Environment, Hohai University, Nanjing, 210098, China
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6
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K S, Vasanthrao R, Chattopadhyay I. Impact of environment on transmission of antibiotic-resistant superbugs in humans and strategies to lower dissemination of antibiotic resistance. Folia Microbiol (Praha) 2023; 68:657-675. [PMID: 37589876 DOI: 10.1007/s12223-023-01083-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/26/2022] [Accepted: 08/02/2023] [Indexed: 08/18/2023]
Abstract
Antibiotics are the most efficient type of therapy developed in the twentieth century. From the early 1960s to the present, the rate of discovery of new and therapeutically useful classes of antibiotics has significantly decreased. As a result of antibiotic use, novel strains emerge that limit the efficiency of therapies in patients, resulting in serious consequences such as morbidity or mortality, as well as clinical difficulties. Antibiotic resistance has created major concern and has a greater impact on global health. Horizontal and vertical gene transfers are two mechanisms involved in the spread of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) through environmental sources such as wastewater treatment plants, agriculture, soil, manure, and hospital-associated area discharges. Mobile genetic elements have an important part in microbe selection pressure and in spreading their genes into new microbial communities; additionally, it establishes a loop between the environment, animals, and humans. This review contains antibiotics and their resistance mechanisms, diffusion of ARGs, prevention of ARG transmission, tactics involved in microbiome identification, and therapies that aid to minimize infection, which are explored further below. The emergence of ARGs and antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB) is an unavoidable threat to global health. The discovery of novel antimicrobial agents derived from natural products shifts the focus from chemical modification of existing antibiotic chemical composition. In the future, metagenomic research could aid in the identification of antimicrobial resistance genes in the environment. Novel therapeutics may reduce infection and the transmission of ARGs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Suganya K
- Department of Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences, Central University of Tamil Nadu, Thiruvarur, 610101, India
| | - Ramavath Vasanthrao
- Department of Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences, Central University of Tamil Nadu, Thiruvarur, 610101, India
| | - Indranil Chattopadhyay
- Department of Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences, Central University of Tamil Nadu, Thiruvarur, 610101, India.
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Zhao M, Zhou X, Li Z, Xu G, Li S, Feng R, Xia D. The dynamics and removal efficiency of antibiotic resistance genes by UV-LED treatment: An integrated research on single- or dual-wavelength irradiation. ECOTOXICOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY 2023; 263:115212. [PMID: 37418945 DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2023.115212] [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: 02/18/2023] [Revised: 06/03/2023] [Accepted: 06/29/2023] [Indexed: 07/09/2023]
Abstract
Antimicrobial resistance has gained increasing attention, because of the awareness of its potential health risks. Strategies for the removal of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) are urgently required. In the present study, UV-LEDs at wavelength of 265 and 285 nm were integrated at five conditions, including single 265 nm UV-LED, single 285 nm UV-LED, and combined 265 nm and 285 nm UV-LED at different intensities, to remove tet A, cat 1, and amp C. The ARGs removal efficiency, gene behavior, and possible cellular mechanism were analyzed using real-time quantitative PCR, flow cytometry, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The 265 nm UV-LED is more effective than the 285 nm UV-LED and their combinations in terms of ARGs control, in which 1.91, 1.71, and 1.45 log were removed for tet A, cat 1, and amp C, respectively, at a UV dosage of 500 mJ/cm2. The intracellular gene leakage was detected in all five UV-LED experiment scenarios even when the cell membrane damage was insignificant with the highest increase of 0.69 log ARGs. ROS was generated during the irradiation, and the ROS was strongly negative correlated with intracellular ARGs, which could promote the degradation and removal of ARGs. This study provides a new insight of intracellular ARGs removal, because direct irradiation, ROS oxidation, and leakage to the extracellular serve as the three main pathways under high-dosage UV-LED irradiation. Further research should be focused on the mechanism and optimization of UV technology with 265 nm UV-LED for ARG control.
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Affiliation(s)
- Meijuan Zhao
- University of Science and Technology Beijing, School of Energy and Environmental Engineering, Beijing Key Laboratory of Resource-oriented Treatment of Industrial Pollutants, Beijing 100083, PR China
| | - Xiaoqin Zhou
- University of Science and Technology Beijing, School of Energy and Environmental Engineering, Beijing Key Laboratory of Resource-oriented Treatment of Industrial Pollutants, Beijing 100083, PR China; Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution Control and Remediation Technology (Sun Yat-sen University), PR China.
| | - Zifu Li
- University of Science and Technology Beijing, School of Energy and Environmental Engineering, Beijing Key Laboratory of Resource-oriented Treatment of Industrial Pollutants, Beijing 100083, PR China.
| | - Guotao Xu
- University of Science and Technology Beijing, School of Energy and Environmental Engineering, Beijing Key Laboratory of Resource-oriented Treatment of Industrial Pollutants, Beijing 100083, PR China
| | - Songwei Li
- University of Science and Technology Beijing, School of Energy and Environmental Engineering, Beijing Key Laboratory of Resource-oriented Treatment of Industrial Pollutants, Beijing 100083, PR China
| | - Rui Feng
- University of Science and Technology Beijing, School of Energy and Environmental Engineering, Beijing Key Laboratory of Resource-oriented Treatment of Industrial Pollutants, Beijing 100083, PR China
| | - Dehua Xia
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution Control and Remediation Technology (Sun Yat-sen University), PR China
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Raza S, Kang KH, Shin J, Shin SG, Chun J, Cho HU, Shin J, Kim YM. Variations in antibiotic resistance genes and microbial community in sludges passing through biological nutrient removal and anaerobic digestion processes in municipal wastewater treatment plants. CHEMOSPHERE 2023; 313:137362. [PMID: 36427585 DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.137362] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2022] [Revised: 11/19/2022] [Accepted: 11/21/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) represents a relentless, silent pandemic. Contributing to this are wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), a potential source of antibiotic resistance genes' (ARGs) transmission to the environment, threatening public health. The presence of ARGs in pathogenic bacteria and their release into the environment by WWTPs threatens the public health. The current study investigated changes in ARGs' abundance in biological nutrient removal (BNR) processes and anaerobic digestion (AD) reactors of two WWTPs. Also, microbial community structure, which is known to shape the distribution and abundance of ARGs, was also analyzed. The relative abundance of eight ARGs (tetX, tetA, tetM, TEM, sul1, sul2, ermB and qnrD) was quantified as ARGs' copies/16 S rRNA gene copies using quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). Microbial community composition was assessed by 16 S rRNA microbiome sequencing analysis. TetX was prevalent among the eight ARGs, followed by TEM and sul1. However, its abundance was decreased in the AD sludges compared to BNR sludges. Proteobacteria was the major bacterial phylum found in all the sludge samples, while Arcobacter, 12up and Acidovorax were the predominant genera. Acinetobacter and Flavobacterium were significantly more abundant in the BNR sludges, while 12up and Aeromonas were predominant in AD sludges. Principal component analysis (PCA) revealed a clear difference in dominant ARGs and bacteria between the sludges in the processes of BNR and AD of the two WWTPs. Clinically relevant bacterial genera, Klebsiella and Enterococcus, found in both the BNR and AD sludges, were significantly correlated with the tetX gene. Throughout this study, the relationship between microbial communities and specific ARGs was revealed, illustrating that the composition of the microbial community could play a vital role in the abundance of ARGs. These results will better inform future studies aimed at controlling the spread of ARGs and their potential hosts from WWTPs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shahbaz Raza
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Hanyang University, Seongdong-gu, Seoul, 04763, Republic of Korea
| | - Kyeong Hwan Kang
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Hanyang University, Seongdong-gu, Seoul, 04763, Republic of Korea
| | - Juhee Shin
- Department of Energy Engineering, Future Convergence Technology Research Institute, Gyeongsang National UniversityJinju, Gyeongnam, 52828, Republic of Korea
| | - Seung Gu Shin
- Department of Energy Engineering, Future Convergence Technology Research Institute, Gyeongsang National UniversityJinju, Gyeongnam, 52828, Republic of Korea; Department of Energy System Engineering, Gyeongsang National University, Jinju, Gyeongnam, 52828, Republic of Korea
| | - Jihyun Chun
- Department of Marine Environmental Engineering, Gyeongsang National University, Tongyeong, Gyeongnam, 53064, Republic of Korea
| | - Hyun Uk Cho
- Department of Marine Environmental Engineering, Gyeongsang National University, Tongyeong, Gyeongnam, 53064, Republic of Korea
| | - Jingyeong Shin
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Hanyang University, Seongdong-gu, Seoul, 04763, Republic of Korea; Bio Resource Center, Institute for Advanced Engineering, Yongin, Gyeonggi-do, 17180, Republic of Korea.
| | - Young Mo Kim
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Hanyang University, Seongdong-gu, Seoul, 04763, Republic of Korea.
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9
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Jeon JH, Jang KM, Lee JH, Kang LW, Lee SH. Transmission of antibiotic resistance genes through mobile genetic elements in Acinetobacter baumannii and gene-transfer prevention. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2023; 857:159497. [PMID: 36257427 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.159497] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/14/2022] [Revised: 10/12/2022] [Accepted: 10/12/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Antibiotic resistance is a major global public health concern. Acinetobacter baumannii is a nosocomial pathogen that has emerged as a global threat because of its high levels of resistance to many antibiotics, particularly those considered as last-resort antibiotics, such as carbapenems. Mobile genetic elements (MGEs) play an important role in the dissemination and expression of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), including the mobilization of ARGs within and between species. We conducted an in-depth, systematic investigation of the occurrence and dissemination of ARGs associated with MGEs in A. baumannii. We focused on a cross-sectoral approach that integrates humans, animals, and environments. Four strategies for the prevention of ARG dissemination through MGEs have been discussed: prevention of airborne transmission of ARGs using semi-permeable membrane-covered thermophilic composting; application of nanomaterials for the removal of emerging pollutants (antibiotics) and pathogens; tertiary treatment technologies for controlling ARGs and MGEs in wastewater treatment plants; and the removal of ARGs by advanced oxidation techniques. This review contemplates and evaluates the major drivers involved in the transmission of ARGs from the cross-sectoral perspective and ARG-transfer prevention processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeong Ho Jeon
- National Leading Research Laboratory of Drug Resistance Proteomics, Department of Biological Sciences, Myongji University, 116 Myongjiro, Yongin, Gyeonggido 17058, Republic of Korea
| | - Kyung-Min Jang
- National Leading Research Laboratory of Drug Resistance Proteomics, Department of Biological Sciences, Myongji University, 116 Myongjiro, Yongin, Gyeonggido 17058, Republic of Korea
| | - Jung Hun Lee
- National Leading Research Laboratory of Drug Resistance Proteomics, Department of Biological Sciences, Myongji University, 116 Myongjiro, Yongin, Gyeonggido 17058, Republic of Korea
| | - Lin-Woo Kang
- Department of Biological Sciences, Konkuk University, 1 Hwayang-dong, Gwangjin-gu, Seoul 05029, Republic of Korea
| | - Sang Hee Lee
- National Leading Research Laboratory of Drug Resistance Proteomics, Department of Biological Sciences, Myongji University, 116 Myongjiro, Yongin, Gyeonggido 17058, Republic of Korea.
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10
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Mosaka TBM, Unuofin JO, Daramola MO, Tizaoui C, Iwarere SA. Inactivation of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and antibiotic-resistance genes in wastewater streams: Current challenges and future perspectives. Front Microbiol 2023; 13:1100102. [PMID: 36733776 PMCID: PMC9888414 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.1100102] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2022] [Accepted: 12/29/2022] [Indexed: 01/17/2023] Open
Abstract
The discovery of antibiotics, which was once regarded as a timely medical intervention now leaves a bitter aftertaste: antimicrobial resistance (AMR), due to the unregulated use of these compounds and the poor management receiving wastewaters before discharge into pristine environments or the recycling of such treated waters. Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) have been regarded a central sink for the mostly unmetabolized or partially metabolised antibiotics and is also pivotal to the incidence of antibiotic resistance bacteria (ARBs) and their resistance genes (ARGs), which consistently contribute to the global disease burden and deteriorating prophylaxis. In this regard, we highlighted WWTP-antibiotics consumption-ARBs-ARGs nexus, which might be critical to understanding the epidemiology of AMR and also guide the precise prevention and remediation of such occurrences. We also discovered the unsophistication of conventional WWTPs and treatment techniques for adequate treatment of antibiotics, ARBs and ARGs, due to their lack of compliance with environmental sustainability, then ultimately assessed the prospects of cold atmospheric plasma (CAP). Herein, we observed that CAP technologies not only has the capability to disinfect wastewater polluted with copious amounts of chemicals and biologicals, but also have a potential to augment bioelectricity generation, when integrated into bio electrochemical modules, which future WWTPs should be retrofitted to accommodate. Therefore, further research should be conducted to unveil more of the unknowns, which only a snippet has been highlighted in this study.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thabang B. M. Mosaka
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Built Environment and Information Technology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
| | - John O. Unuofin
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Built Environment and Information Technology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
| | - Michael O. Daramola
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Built Environment and Information Technology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
| | - Chedly Tizaoui
- Water and Resources Recovery Research Lab, Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Swansea University, Swansea, United Kingdom
| | - Samuel A. Iwarere
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Built Environment and Information Technology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa,*Correspondence: Samuel A. Iwarere, ✉
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11
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Karaolia P, Michael C, Schwartz T, Fatta-Kassinos D. Membrane bioreactor followed by solar photo-Fenton oxidation: Bacterial community structure changes and bacterial reduction. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2022; 847:157594. [PMID: 35905961 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.157594] [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: 06/01/2022] [Revised: 07/19/2022] [Accepted: 07/19/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
The removal of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and taxon-specific markers, the bacterial community structure changes and the permanent inactivation of total bacteria including their antibiotic-resistant counterparts (ARB) in actual wastewater during a Membrane BioReactor (MBR) application followed by solar photo-Fenton oxidation at bench- and then pilot-scale under solar irradiation, were investigated. The presence of enterococci- and pseudomonad-specific taxon markers and of sul1 and ampC ARGs in the MBR effluent was confirmed, indicating the challenge of such processes, for the removal of biological molecules. On the other hand, >99 % reduction of all types of cultivable bacteria examined was observed after MBR treatment, with a 5-log reduction of E. coli and 6-log reduction of P. aeruginosa and Klebsiella spp. There was a shift in the bacterial community structure in the MBR effluent after the bench- and pilot-scale solar photo-Fenton oxidation. Notably, thermotolerant bacterial genera like Ignavibacterium and Thermomonas were prevalent during the pilot-scale process operated at a high ambient temperature, while the most prevalent genera were Mycobacterium, Nocardioides and Mesorhizobium, which are primarily not pathogenic and plant-related. In agreement, a different bacterial community structure according to the G-C content after DGGE analysis was noted between the MBR and solar photo-Fenton oxidation-treated effluents, but interestingly also between the bench- and pilot-scale oxidation-treated effluents. There was complete absence of ARGs after the bench-scale solar photo-Fenton oxidation application but not after the pilot-scale treatment (1.56 and 1.53 log10 CE 100 ng-1 DNA, of sul and ermB, respectively). Taxon-specific markers were found in both oxidation setups. Inactivation of cultivable Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Klebsiella spp. (including ARB) was achieved during both oxidation setups, with no further re-activation observed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Popi Karaolia
- Nireas-International Water Research Center, University of Cyprus, P.O. Box 20537, 1678 Nicosia, Cyprus
| | - Costas Michael
- Nireas-International Water Research Center, University of Cyprus, P.O. Box 20537, 1678 Nicosia, Cyprus
| | - Thomas Schwartz
- Institute of Functional Interfaces, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Hermann-von-Helmholtz-Platz 1, Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen 76344, Germany
| | - Despo Fatta-Kassinos
- Nireas-International Water Research Center, University of Cyprus, P.O. Box 20537, 1678 Nicosia, Cyprus; Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, School of Engineering, University of Cyprus, P.O. Box 20537, 1678 Nicosia, Cyprus.
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12
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Inuwa AB, Mahmood Q, Iqbal J, Widemann E, Shafiq S, Irshad M, Irshad U, Iqbal A, Hafeez F, Nazir R. Removal of Antibiotic Resistance Genes, Class 1 Integrase Gene and Escherichia coli Indicator Gene in a Microalgae-Based Wastewater Treatment System. Antibiotics (Basel) 2022; 11:antibiotics11111531. [PMID: 36358186 PMCID: PMC9686833 DOI: 10.3390/antibiotics11111531] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2022] [Revised: 10/28/2022] [Accepted: 10/29/2022] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
Microalgae-based wastewater treatment systems (AWWTS) have recently shown promise in the mitigation of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) from municipal wastewater (MWW). However, due to the large number of ARGs that exist in MWW, the use of indirect conventional water quality parameters to monitor ARGs reduction in wastewater would make the process less burdensome and economically affordable. In order to establish a robust relationship between the ARGs and water quality parameters, the current study employed different microalgae strains in monoculture (CM2, KL10) and multi-species combinations (CK and WW) for the MWW treatment under outdoor environmental conditions. The studied genes were quantified in the MWW influents and effluents using real-time PCR. All the cultures substantially improved the physicochemical qualities of the MWW. Out of the 14 genes analyzed in this study, tetO, tetW, tetX and ermB were decreased beyond detection within the first 4 days of treatment in all the cultures. Other genes, including blaCTX, sul1, cmlA, aadA, int1 and uidA were also decreased beyond a 2 log reduction value (LRV). The mobile genetic element, int1, correlated positively with most of the ARGs, especially sul1 (r ≤ 0.99, p < 0.01) and aadA (r ≤ 0.97, p < 0.01). Similarly, the Escherichia coli indicator gene, uidA, correlated positively with the studied genes, especially with aadA, blaCTX, blaTEM and cmlA (r ≤ 0.99 for each, p < 0.01). Some of the studied genes also correlated positively with total dissolved solids (TDS) (r ≤ 0.98, p < 0.01), and/or negatively with total suspended solids (TSS) (r ≤ −0.98, p < 0.01) and pH (r ≤ −0.98, p < 0.01). Among the tested cultures, both monocultures, i.e., KL10 and CM2 were found to be more consistent in gene suppression than their multi-species counterparts. The findings revealed water quality parameters such as TDS, TSS and E. coli as reliable proxies for ARGs mitigation in AWWTS and further highlight the superiority of monocultures over multi-species cultures in terms of gene suppression from the MWW stream.
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Affiliation(s)
- Abdullahi B. Inuwa
- Department of Environmental Sciences, COMSATS University Islamabad (CUI), Abbottabad Campus, Abbottabad 22060, Pakistan
- Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Life Sciences, College of Natural and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Bayero University Kano, Kano 700006, Nigeria
| | - Qaisar Mahmood
- Department of Environmental Sciences, COMSATS University Islamabad (CUI), Abbottabad Campus, Abbottabad 22060, Pakistan
- Department of Biology, College of Science, University of Bahrain, Sakhir P.O. Box 32038, Bahrain
| | - Jamshed Iqbal
- Centre for Advanced Drug Research, COMSATS University Islamabad (CUI), Abbottabad Campus, Abbottabad 22060, Pakistan
- Department of Pharmacy, COMSATS University Islamabad (CUI), Abbottabad Campus, Abbottabad 22060, Pakistan
| | - Emilie Widemann
- Institut de Biologie Moléculaire des Plantes, CNRS-Université de Strasbourg, 67084 Strasbourg, France
| | - Sarfraz Shafiq
- Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Western Ontario, 1151 Richmond St., London, ON N6A5B8, Canada
| | - Muhammad Irshad
- Department of Environmental Sciences, COMSATS University Islamabad (CUI), Abbottabad Campus, Abbottabad 22060, Pakistan
| | - Usman Irshad
- Department of Environmental Sciences, COMSATS University Islamabad (CUI), Abbottabad Campus, Abbottabad 22060, Pakistan
| | - Akhtar Iqbal
- Department of Environmental Sciences, COMSATS University Islamabad (CUI), Abbottabad Campus, Abbottabad 22060, Pakistan
| | - Farhan Hafeez
- Department of Environmental Sciences, COMSATS University Islamabad (CUI), Abbottabad Campus, Abbottabad 22060, Pakistan
| | - Rashid Nazir
- Department of Environmental Sciences, COMSATS University Islamabad (CUI), Abbottabad Campus, Abbottabad 22060, Pakistan
- Correspondence:
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13
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Hiller CX, Schwaller C, Wurzbacher C, Drewes JE. Removal of antibiotic microbial resistance by micro- and ultrafiltration of secondary wastewater effluents at pilot scale. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2022; 838:156052. [PMID: 35598662 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.156052] [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: 03/01/2022] [Revised: 05/04/2022] [Accepted: 05/15/2022] [Indexed: 05/09/2023]
Abstract
Low-pressure membrane filtration was investigated at pilot scale with regard to its removal of antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs) in conventional secondary treated wastewater plant effluents. While operating microfiltration (MF) and ultrafiltration (UF) membranes, key operational parameters for antimicrobial resistance (AMR) studies and key factors influencing AMR removal efficiencies of low-pressure membrane filtration processes were examined. The main factor for AMR removal was the pore size of the membrane. The formation of the fouling layer on capillary membranes had only a small additive effect on intra- and extrachromosomal ARG removal and a significant additive effect on mobile ARG removal. Using feeds with different ARGs abundances revealed that higher ARG abundance in the feed resulted in higher ARG abundance in the filtrate. Live-Dead cell counting in UF filtrate showed intact bacteria breaking through the UF membrane. Strong correlations between 16S rRNA genes (as surrogate for bacteria quantification) and the sul1 gene in UF filtrate indicated ARBs likely breaking through UF membranes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christian X Hiller
- Chair of Urban Water Systems Engineering, Technical University of Munich, Germany
| | - Christoph Schwaller
- Chair of Urban Water Systems Engineering, Technical University of Munich, Germany
| | - Christian Wurzbacher
- Chair of Urban Water Systems Engineering, Technical University of Munich, Germany
| | - Jörg E Drewes
- Chair of Urban Water Systems Engineering, Technical University of Munich, Germany.
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Li S, Ondon BS, Ho SH, Jiang J, Li F. Antibiotic resistant bacteria and genes in wastewater treatment plants: From occurrence to treatment strategies. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2022; 838:156544. [PMID: 35679932 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.156544] [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] [Received: 03/29/2022] [Revised: 06/02/2022] [Accepted: 06/03/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
This study aims to discuss the following: (1) occurrence and proliferation of antibiotic resistance in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs); (2) factors influencing antibiotic resistance bacteria and genes in WWTPs; (3) tools to assess antibiotic resistance in WWTPs; (4) environmental contamination of antibiotic resistant bacteria (ARB) and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) from WWTPs; (5) effects of ARB and ARGs from WWTPs on human health; and (6) treatment strategies. In general, resistant and multi-resistant bacteria, including Enterobacteriaceae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Escherichia coli, exist in various processes of WWTPs. The existence of ARB and ARGs results from the high concentration of antibiotics in wastewater, which promote selective pressures on the local bacteria present in WWTPs. Thus, improving wastewater treatment technology and avoiding the misuse of antibiotics is critical to overcoming the threat of proliferation of ARBs and ARGs. Numerous factors can affect the development of ARB and ARGs in WWTPs. Abiotic factors can affect the bacterial community dynamics, thereby, affecting the applicability of ARB during the wastewater treatment process. Furthermore, the organic loads and other nutrients influence bacterial survival and growth. Specifically, molecular methods for the rapid characterization and detection of ARBs or their genes comprise DNA sequencing, real-time PCR, simple and multiplex PCR, and hybridization-based technologies, including micro- and macro-arrays. The reuse of effluent from WWTPs for irrigation is an efficient method to overcome water scarcity. However, there are also some potential environmental risks associated with this practice, such as increase in the levels of antibiotic resistance in the soil microbiome. Human mortality rates may significantly increase, as ARB can lead to resistance among several types of antibiotics or longer treatment times. Some treatment technologies, such as anaerobic and aerobic treatment, coagulation, membrane bioreactors, and disinfection processes, are considered potential techniques to restrict antibiotic resistance in the environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shengnan Li
- Key Laboratory of Pollution Processes and Environmental Criteria of the Ministry of Education, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Environmental Remediation and Pollution Control, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nankai University, Tianjin 300350, China; State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, School of Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, Heilongjiang Province 150090, China
| | - Brim Stevy Ondon
- Key Laboratory of Pollution Processes and Environmental Criteria of the Ministry of Education, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Environmental Remediation and Pollution Control, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nankai University, Tianjin 300350, China
| | - Shih-Hsin Ho
- State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, School of Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, Heilongjiang Province 150090, China
| | - Jiwei Jiang
- Key Laboratory of Pollution Processes and Environmental Criteria of the Ministry of Education, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Environmental Remediation and Pollution Control, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nankai University, Tianjin 300350, China
| | - Fengxiang Li
- Key Laboratory of Pollution Processes and Environmental Criteria of the Ministry of Education, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Environmental Remediation and Pollution Control, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nankai University, Tianjin 300350, China.
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15
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Mutuku C, Gazdag Z, Melegh S. Occurrence of antibiotics and bacterial resistance genes in wastewater: resistance mechanisms and antimicrobial resistance control approaches. World J Microbiol Biotechnol 2022; 38:152. [PMID: 35781751 PMCID: PMC9250919 DOI: 10.1007/s11274-022-03334-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2022] [Accepted: 06/10/2022] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Antimicrobial pharmaceuticals are classified as emergent micropollutants of concern, implying that even at low concentrations, long-term exposure to the environment can have significant eco-toxicological effects. There is a lack of a standardized regulatory framework governing the permissible antibiotic content for monitoring environmental water quality standards. Therefore, indiscriminate discharge of antimicrobials at potentially active concentrations into urban wastewater treatment facilities is rampant. Antimicrobials may exert selective pressure on bacteria, leading to resistance development and eventual health consequences. The emergence of clinically important multiple antibiotic-resistant bacteria in untreated hospital effluents and wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) has been linked to the continuous exposure of bacteria to antimicrobials. The levels of environmental exposure to antibiotics and their correlation to the evolution and spread of resistant bacteria need to be elucidated to help in the formulation of mitigation measures. This review explores frequently detected antimicrobials in wastewater and gives a comprehensive coverage of bacterial resistance mechanisms to different antibiotic classes through the expression of a wide variety of antibiotic resistance genes either inherent and/or exchanged among bacteria or acquired from the reservoir of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in wastewater systems. To complement the removal of antibiotics and ARGs from WWTPs, upscaling the implementation of prospective interventions such as vaccines, phage therapy, and natural compounds as alternatives to widespread antibiotic use provides a multifaceted approach to minimize the spread of antimicrobial resistance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher Mutuku
- Department of General and Environmental Microbiology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Pécs, Ifjúság u. 6, Pecs, 7624, Hungary.
| | - Zoltan Gazdag
- Department of General and Environmental Microbiology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Pécs, Ifjúság u. 6, Pecs, 7624, Hungary
| | - Szilvia Melegh
- Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, Medical School, University of Pécs, 7622, Pecs, Hungary
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16
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Ma X, Dong X, Cai J, Fu C, Yang J, Liu Y, Zhang Y, Wan T, Lin S, Lou Y, Zheng M. Metagenomic Analysis Reveals Changes in Bacterial Communities and Antibiotic Resistance Genes in an Eye Specialty Hospital and a General Hospital Before and After Wastewater Treatment. Front Microbiol 2022; 13:848167. [PMID: 35663906 PMCID: PMC9162037 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.848167] [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: 01/04/2022] [Accepted: 04/13/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
The spread of antibiotic resistant bacteria (ARB) and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in hospital wastewater poses a great threat to public health, and wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) play an important role in reducing the levels of ARB and ARGs. In this study, high-throughput metagenomic sequencing was used to analyze the bacterial community composition and ARGs in two hospitals exposed to different antibiotic use conditions (an eye specialty hospital and a general hospital) before and after wastewater treatment. The results showed that there were various potential pathogenic bacteria in the hospital wastewater, and the abundance and diversity of the influent ARGs in the general hospital were higher than those in the eye hospital. The influent of the eye hospital was mainly composed of Thauera and Pseudomonas, and sul1 (sulfonamide) was the most abundant ARG. The influent of the general hospital contained mainly Aeromonas and Acinetobacter, and tet39 (tetracycline) was the most abundant ARG. Furthermore, co-occurrence network analysis showed that the main bacteria carrying ARGs in hospital wastewater varied with hospital type; the same bacteria in wastewater from different hospitals could carry different ARGs, and the same ARG could also be carried by different bacteria. The changes in the bacterial community and ARG abundance in the effluent from the two hospitals showed that the activated sludge treatment and the direct chlorination disinfection can effectively remove some bacteria and ARGs in wastewater but have limitations. The species diversity increased significantly after the activated sludge treatment, while the direct chlorination disinfection did not increase the diversity. The activated sludge treatment has a better effect on the elimination of ARGs than the direct chlorination disinfection. In summary, we investigated the differences in bacterial communities and ARGs in wastewater from two hospitals exposed to different antibiotic usage conditions, evaluated the effects of different wastewater treatment methods on the bacterial communities and ARGs in hospital wastewater, and recommended appropriate methods for certain clinical environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xueli Ma
- Eye Hospital and School of Ophthalmology and Optometry, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China
- National Clinical Research Center for Ocular Diseases, Wenzhou, China
| | - Xu Dong
- Wenzhou Key Laboratory of Sanitary Microbiology, Key Laboratory of Laboratory Medicine, Ministry of Education, School of Laboratory Medicine and Life Sciences, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China
| | - Jiabei Cai
- Eye Hospital and School of Ophthalmology and Optometry, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China
- National Clinical Research Center for Ocular Diseases, Wenzhou, China
| | - Chunyan Fu
- Eye Hospital and School of Ophthalmology and Optometry, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China
- National Clinical Research Center for Ocular Diseases, Wenzhou, China
| | - Jing Yang
- Eye Hospital and School of Ophthalmology and Optometry, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China
- National Clinical Research Center for Ocular Diseases, Wenzhou, China
| | - Yuan Liu
- Eye Hospital and School of Ophthalmology and Optometry, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China
- National Clinical Research Center for Ocular Diseases, Wenzhou, China
| | - Yan Zhang
- Eye Hospital and School of Ophthalmology and Optometry, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China
- National Clinical Research Center for Ocular Diseases, Wenzhou, China
| | - Tian Wan
- Eye Hospital and School of Ophthalmology and Optometry, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China
- National Clinical Research Center for Ocular Diseases, Wenzhou, China
| | - Shudan Lin
- National Clinical Research Center for Ocular Diseases, Wenzhou, China
- Wenzhou Key Laboratory of Sanitary Microbiology, Key Laboratory of Laboratory Medicine, Ministry of Education, School of Laboratory Medicine and Life Sciences, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China
| | - Yongliang Lou
- Wenzhou Key Laboratory of Sanitary Microbiology, Key Laboratory of Laboratory Medicine, Ministry of Education, School of Laboratory Medicine and Life Sciences, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China
| | - Meiqin Zheng
- Eye Hospital and School of Ophthalmology and Optometry, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China
- National Clinical Research Center for Ocular Diseases, Wenzhou, China
- Wenzhou Key Laboratory of Sanitary Microbiology, Key Laboratory of Laboratory Medicine, Ministry of Education, School of Laboratory Medicine and Life Sciences, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China
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17
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Chen F, Ma J, Zhu Y, Li X, Yu H, Sun Y. Biodegradation performance and anti-fouling mechanism of an ICME/electro-biocarriers-MBR system in livestock wastewater (antibiotic-containing) treatment. JOURNAL OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS 2022; 426:128064. [PMID: 34922131 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.128064] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 22.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/23/2021] [Revised: 12/07/2021] [Accepted: 12/08/2021] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Livestock wastewater is an important reservoir of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and antibiotic residues. Membrane fouling is one of the most challenging problems confining the operation and application of membrane bioreactor (MBR). In this work, a novel iron-carbon micro-electrolysis (ICME)/electro-biocarriers-MBR system was established to explore the performance of pollutant removal and anti-fouling for an actual livestock wastewater. A light-weight porous ceramsite (bulk density 0.98 g/cm3) was used as the MBR biocarriers. The electrons generated from iron corrosion in the ICME tank traveled through external wires to the stainless steel membrane modules of MBR and the protons were transferred from the MBR tank to the ICME tank through a salt bridge, thus producing a spontaneous electric field. Under the optimized conditions, the system exhibited chemical oxygen demand removal of 76.0%, total suspended solids removal of 100%, antibiotic removal of 86.4%, NH4+-N removal of 91.1%, and ARGs reduction of 6-8 orders of magnitude. The quality of the final effluent can reach the national Class I-A discharge criteria. Adding ceramsite could not only effectively improve biodegradation performance but also alleviate membrane fouling through the migration and enrichment of microbial flora to the ceramsite. The self-generated electric field had no significant improvement effect on pollutant removal, but exhibited good anti-membrane fouling behavior which could be ascribed to (i) oxidization of membrane foulants by the electrochemical products (such as H2O2 and •OH radicals), and (ii) electrostatic repulsion of negatively charged foulants and bacterial cells. The bacterial community structure and diversity were studied using high-throughput pyrosequencing, and the results demonstrated the roles of electric field and biocarriers in enrichment of anti-fouling communities and repulsion of biofouling-creating communities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fu Chen
- School of Public Administration, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China; Engineering Research Center of Ministry of Education for Mine Ecological Restoration, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221116, China.
| | - Jing Ma
- School of Public Administration, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China; Engineering Research Center of Ministry of Education for Mine Ecological Restoration, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221116, China
| | - Yanfeng Zhu
- School of Environment Science and Spatial Informatics, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221008, Jiangsu, China
| | - Xiaoxiao Li
- School of Agriculture and Biology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
| | - Haochen Yu
- School of Public Administration, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China; Engineering Research Center of Ministry of Education for Mine Ecological Restoration, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221116, China
| | - Yan Sun
- School of Public Administration, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China
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18
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Hazra M, Durso LM. Performance Efficiency of Conventional Treatment Plants and Constructed Wetlands towards Reduction of Antibiotic Resistance. Antibiotics (Basel) 2022; 11:114. [PMID: 35052991 PMCID: PMC8773441 DOI: 10.3390/antibiotics11010114] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/28/2021] [Revised: 01/07/2022] [Accepted: 01/12/2022] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Domestic and industrial wastewater discharges harbor rich bacterial communities, including both pathogenic and commensal organisms that are antibiotic-resistant (AR). AR pathogens pose a potential threat to human and animal health. In wastewater treatment plants (WWTP), bacteria encounter environments suitable for horizontal gene transfer, providing an opportunity for bacterial cells to acquire new antibiotic-resistant genes. With many entry points to environmental components, especially water and soil, WWTPs are considered a critical control point for antibiotic resistance. The primary and secondary units of conventional WWTPs are not designed for the reduction of resistant microbes. Constructed wetlands (CWs) are viable wastewater treatment options with the potential for mitigating AR bacteria, their genes, pathogens, and general pollutants. Encouraging performance for the removal of AR (2-4 logs) has highlighted the applicability of CW on fields. Their low cost of construction, operation and maintenance makes them well suited for applications across the globe, especially in developing and low-income countries. The present review highlights a better understanding of the performance efficiency of conventional treatment plants and CWs for the elimination/reduction of AR from wastewater. They are viable alternatives that can be used for secondary/tertiary treatment or effluent polishing in combination with WWTP or in a decentralized manner.
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Affiliation(s)
- Moushumi Hazra
- Department of Hydrology, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee 247667, Uttarakhand, India
| | - Lisa M. Durso
- Agroecosystem Management Research Unit, Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture, Lincoln, NE 68583, USA;
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19
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Wang R, Matsuura N, Hara-Yamamura H, Watanabe T, Honda R. Initial behaviors and removal of extracellular plasmid gene in membrane bioreactor. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT 2021; 298:113541. [PMID: 34426222 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.113541] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2021] [Revised: 07/30/2021] [Accepted: 08/10/2021] [Indexed: 05/10/2023]
Abstract
Extracellular antibiotic resistance genes (eARG) are considered to play an important role in spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in wastewater treatment and water environment. Membrane bioreactor (MBR) reportedly has better removal of ARGs in wastewater than conventional activated sludge process. However, removal of eARG is possibly limited because eARG is small to pass through microfiltration (MF) membranes. To evaluate potential removal of eARG in MBR, this study aimed to understand the initial behaviors of eARG received in MBR. The recombinant plasmid with artificial marker gene was spiked in lab-scale MBR to trace fate of eARG in MBR. Among 10 10 copies/L of the spiked gene, 2.6 × 109 copies/L was adsorbed on sludge particles at 6 h after spiking, while only 2.2 × 108-3.6 × 108 copies/L of the spiked gene was remained but constant in sludge liquid phase from 6 until 48 h. This result suggests that adsorption on sludge particles served as the main mechanism to govern the initial fate of eARG in MBR. Meanwhile, the spiked gene concentrations in membrane permeate was lower than sludge liquid phase and decreased overtime, suggesting retention of eARG in membrane filtration. Total LRV of the spiked extracellular gene were 3.4 ± 0.8 log at 48 h after spiking. LRV by adsorption corresponded to 1.7 ± 0.7 log constantly since 3 h after spiking, while LRV by membrane filtration increased from 0 to 1.7 ± 0.6 log. Linear correlation of LRV by membrane filtration with transmembrane pressure (TMP) suggested that foulant deposition on membrane governs removal of eARG by membrane filtration in MBR.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rongxuan Wang
- Graduate School of Natural Science and Technology, Kanazawa University, Kakuma-machi, Kanazawa, 920-1192, Japan
| | - Norihisa Matsuura
- Faculty of Geosciences and Civil Engineering, Kanazawa University, Kakuma-machi, Kanazawa, 920-1192, Japan
| | - Hiroe Hara-Yamamura
- Faculty of Geosciences and Civil Engineering, Kanazawa University, Kakuma-machi, Kanazawa, 920-1192, Japan
| | - Toru Watanabe
- Faculty of Agriculture, Yamagata University,1-23, Wakaba-machi, Tsuruoka, Yamagata, 997-8555, Japan
| | - Ryo Honda
- Faculty of Geosciences and Civil Engineering, Kanazawa University, Kakuma-machi, Kanazawa, 920-1192, Japan.
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20
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Iakovides IC, Manoli K, Karaolia P, Michael-Kordatou I, Manaia CM, Fatta-Kassinos D. Reduction of antibiotic resistance determinants in urban wastewater by ozone: Emphasis on the impact of wastewater matrix towards the inactivation kinetics, toxicity and bacterial regrowth. JOURNAL OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS 2021; 420:126527. [PMID: 34329111 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.126527] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2021] [Revised: 06/24/2021] [Accepted: 06/25/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
This study investigated the impact of bench-scale ozonation on the inactivation of total cultivable and antibiotic-resistant bacteria (faecal coliforms, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Enterococcus spp., and total heterotrophs), and the reduction of gene markers (16S rRNA and intl1) and antibiotic resistance genes (qacEΔ1, sul1, aadA1 and dfrA1) indigenously present in wastewater effluents treated by membrane bioreactor (MBR) or conventional activated sludge (CAS). The Chick-Watson model-predicted ozone exposure (CT) requirements, showed that higher CT values were needed for CAS- than MBR-treated effluents to achieve a 3-log reduction of each microbial group, i.e., ~30 and 10 gO3 min gDOC-1 respectively. Ozonation was efficient in inactivating the examined antibiotic-resistant bacteria, and no bacterial regrowth was observed after 72 h. The genes abundance decreased significantly by ozone, but an increase in their abundance was detected 72 h after storage of the treated samples. A very low removal of DOC was achieved and at the same time phyto- and eco-toxicity increased after the ozonation treatment in both wastewater matrices. The gene abundance, regrowth and toxicity results of this study may be of high environmental significance for comprehensive evaluation of ozone and may guide future studies in assessing these parameters for other oxidants/disinfectants.
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Affiliation(s)
- I C Iakovides
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, School of Engineering, University of Cyprus, P.O. Box 20537, 1678 Nicosia, Cyprus; Nireas-International Water Research Centre, University of Cyprus, P.O. Box 20537, 1678 Nicosia, Cyprus
| | - K Manoli
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, School of Engineering, University of Cyprus, P.O. Box 20537, 1678 Nicosia, Cyprus; Nireas-International Water Research Centre, University of Cyprus, P.O. Box 20537, 1678 Nicosia, Cyprus
| | - P Karaolia
- Nireas-International Water Research Centre, University of Cyprus, P.O. Box 20537, 1678 Nicosia, Cyprus
| | - I Michael-Kordatou
- Nireas-International Water Research Centre, University of Cyprus, P.O. Box 20537, 1678 Nicosia, Cyprus
| | - C M Manaia
- Universidade Católica Portuguesa, CBQF - Centro de Biotecnologia e Química Fina - Laboratório Associado, Escola Superior de Biotecnologia, Rua de Diogo Botelho 1327, 4169-005 Porto, Portugal
| | - D Fatta-Kassinos
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, School of Engineering, University of Cyprus, P.O. Box 20537, 1678 Nicosia, Cyprus; Nireas-International Water Research Centre, University of Cyprus, P.O. Box 20537, 1678 Nicosia, Cyprus.
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21
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Uluseker C, Kaster KM, Thorsen K, Basiry D, Shobana S, Jain M, Kumar G, Kommedal R, Pala-Ozkok I. A Review on Occurrence and Spread of Antibiotic Resistance in Wastewaters and in Wastewater Treatment Plants: Mechanisms and Perspectives. Front Microbiol 2021; 12:717809. [PMID: 34707579 PMCID: PMC8542863 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2021.717809] [Citation(s) in RCA: 56] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2021] [Accepted: 09/15/2021] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
This paper reviews current knowledge on sources, spread and removal mechanisms of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in microbial communities of wastewaters, treatment plants and downstream recipients. Antibiotic is the most important tool to cure bacterial infections in humans and animals. The over- and misuse of antibiotics have played a major role in the development, spread, and prevalence of antibiotic resistance (AR) in the microbiomes of humans and animals, and microbial ecosystems worldwide. AR can be transferred and spread amongst bacteria via intra- and interspecies horizontal gene transfer (HGT). Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) receive wastewater containing an enormous variety of pollutants, including antibiotics, and chemicals from different sources. They contain large and diverse communities of microorganisms and provide a favorable environment for the spread and reproduction of AR. Existing WWTPs are not designed to remove micropollutants, antibiotic resistant bacteria (ARB) and ARGs, which therefore remain present in the effluent. Studies have shown that raw and treated wastewaters carry a higher amount of ARB in comparison to surface water, and such reports have led to further studies on more advanced treatment processes. This review summarizes what is known about AR removal efficiencies of different wastewater treatment methods, and it shows the variations among different methods. Results vary, but the trend is that conventional activated sludge treatment, with aerobic and/or anaerobic reactors alone or in series, followed by advanced post treatment methods like UV, ozonation, and oxidation removes considerably more ARGs and ARB than activated sludge treatment alone. In addition to AR levels in treated wastewater, it examines AR levels in biosolids, settled by-product from wastewater treatment, and discusses AR removal efficiency of different biosolids treatment procedures. Finally, it puts forward key-points and suggestions for dealing with and preventing further increase of AR in WWTPs and other aquatic environments, together with a discussion on the use of mathematical models to quantify and simulate the spread of ARGs in WWTPs. Mathematical models already play a role in the analysis and development of WWTPs, but they do not consider AR and challenges remain before models can be used to reliably study the dynamics and reduction of AR in such systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cansu Uluseker
- Department of Chemistry, Bioscience and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Stavanger, Stavanger, Norway
| | - Krista Michelle Kaster
- Department of Chemistry, Bioscience and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Stavanger, Stavanger, Norway
| | - Kristian Thorsen
- Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Stavanger, Stavanger, Norway
| | - Daniel Basiry
- Department of Chemistry, Bioscience and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Stavanger, Stavanger, Norway
| | - Sutha Shobana
- Department of Chemistry and Research Centre, Aditanar College of Arts and Science, Tiruchendur, India
| | - Monika Jain
- Department of Natural Resource Management, College of Forestry, Banda University of Agricultural and Technology, Banda, India
| | - Gopalakrishnan Kumar
- Department of Chemistry, Bioscience and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Stavanger, Stavanger, Norway
| | - Roald Kommedal
- Department of Chemistry, Bioscience and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Stavanger, Stavanger, Norway
| | - Ilke Pala-Ozkok
- Department of Chemistry, Bioscience and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Stavanger, Stavanger, Norway
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22
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Zaatout N, Bouras S, Slimani N. Prevalence of extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)-producing Enterobacteriaceae in wastewater: a systematic review and meta-analysis. JOURNAL OF WATER AND HEALTH 2021; 19:705-723. [PMID: 34665765 DOI: 10.2166/wh.2021.112] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/29/2023]
Abstract
Wastewater is considered a hotspot niche of multi-drug and pathogenic bacteria such as Enterobacteriaceae-producing extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBL-E). Thus, the aim of this meta-analysis was to evaluate the prevalence of ESBL-E in different wastewater sources. Different databases (Medline, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library) were searched from inception to March 2021. Data were analyzed using random-effects modeling, and subgroup and meta-regression analyses were used to ascertain heterogeneity among the subgroups. Fifty-seven observational studies were selected, and the pooled prevalence of ESBL-E in wastewater was 24.81% (95% CI, 19.28-30.77). Escherichia coli had the highest ESBL prevalence. The blaCTX-M genes were the most prevalent in the selected studies (66.56%). The pooled prevalence of ESBL was significantly higher in reports from America (39.91%, 95% CI, 21.82-59.51) and reports studying hospital and untreated wastewaters (33.98%, 95% CI, 23.82-44.91 and 27.36%, 95% CI, 19.12-36.42). Overall, this meta-analysis showed that the prevalence of ESBL-E in wastewater is increasing over time and that hospital wastewater is the most important repository of ESBL-E. Therefore, there is a need for developing new sewage treatment systems that decrease the introduction of resistant bacteria and antibiotic residues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nawel Zaatout
- Faculty of Natural and Life Sciences, University of Batna 2, Batna, Algeria
| | - Samia Bouras
- Faculty of Natural and Life Sciences, University of Setif, Setif, Algeria
| | - Nouria Slimani
- Faculty of Natural and Life Sciences, University of Setif, Setif, Algeria
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23
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Nguyen AQ, Vu HP, Nguyen LN, Wang Q, Djordjevic SP, Donner E, Yin H, Nghiem LD. Monitoring antibiotic resistance genes in wastewater treatment: Current strategies and future challenges. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2021; 783:146964. [PMID: 33866168 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.146964] [Citation(s) in RCA: 97] [Impact Index Per Article: 32.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2021] [Revised: 04/01/2021] [Accepted: 04/01/2021] [Indexed: 05/29/2023]
Abstract
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a growing threat to human and animal health. Progress in molecular biology has revealed new and significant challenges for AMR mitigation given the immense diversity of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), the complexity of ARG transfer, and the broad range of omnipresent factors contributing to AMR. Municipal, hospital and abattoir wastewater are collected and treated in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), where the presence of diverse selection pressures together with a highly concentrated consortium of pathogenic/commensal microbes create favourable conditions for the transfer of ARGs and proliferation of antibiotic resistant bacteria (ARB). The rapid emergence of antibiotic resistant pathogens of clinical and veterinary significance over the past 80 years has re-defined the role of WWTPs as a focal point in the fight against AMR. By reviewing the occurrence of ARGs in wastewater and sludge and the current technologies used to quantify ARGs and identify ARB, this paper provides a research roadmap to address existing challenges in AMR control via wastewater treatment. Wastewater treatment is a double-edged sword that can act as either a pathway for AMR spread or as a barrier to reduce the environmental release of anthropogenic AMR. State of the art ARB identification technologies, such as metagenomic sequencing and fluorescence-activated cell sorting, have enriched ARG/ARB databases, unveiled keystone species in AMR networks, and improved the resolution of AMR dissemination models. Data and information provided in this review highlight significant knowledge gaps. These include inconsistencies in ARG reporting units, lack of ARG/ARB monitoring surrogates, lack of a standardised protocol for determining ARG removal via wastewater treatments, and the inability to support appropriate risk assessment. This is due to a lack of standard monitoring targets and agreed threshold values, and paucity of information on the ARG-pathogen host relationship and risk management. These research gaps need to be addressed and research findings need to be transformed into practical guidance for WWTP operators to enable effective progress towards mitigating the evolution and spread of AMR.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anh Q Nguyen
- Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW 2007, Australia
| | - Hang P Vu
- Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW 2007, Australia
| | - Luong N Nguyen
- Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW 2007, Australia
| | - Qilin Wang
- Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW 2007, Australia
| | - Steven P Djordjevic
- Institute of Infection, Immunity and Innovation, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW 2007, Australia
| | - Erica Donner
- Future Industries Institute, University of South Australia, Mawson Lakes, SA 5095, Australia
| | - Huabing Yin
- School of Engineering, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8LT, UK
| | - Long D Nghiem
- Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW 2007, Australia; Institute of Environmental Sciences, Nguyen Tat Thanh University, Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam.
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24
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Hubeny J, Harnisz M, Korzeniewska E, Buta M, Zieliński W, Rolbiecki D, Giebułtowicz J, Nałęcz-Jawecki G, Płaza G. Industrialization as a source of heavy metals and antibiotics which can enhance the antibiotic resistance in wastewater, sewage sludge and river water. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0252691. [PMID: 34086804 PMCID: PMC8177550 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0252691] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2021] [Accepted: 05/19/2021] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
The spread of antibiotic resistance is closely related with selective pressure in the environment. Wastewater from industrialized regions is characterized by higher concentrations of these pollutants than sewage from less industrialized areas. The aim of this study was to compare the concentrations of contaminants such as antibiotics and heavy metals (HMs), and to evaluate their impact on the spread of genes encoding resistance to antimicrobial drugs in samples of wastewater, sewage sludge and river water in two regions with different levels of industrialization. The factors exerting selective pressure, which significantly contributed to the occurrence of the examined antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), were identified. The concentrations of selected gene copy numbers conferring resistance to four groups of antibiotics as well as class 1 and 2 integron-integrase genes were determined in the analyzed samples. The concentrations of six HMs and antibiotics corresponding to genes mediated resistance from 3 classes were determined. Based on network analysis, only some of the analyzed antibiotics correlated with ARGs, while HM levels were correlated with ARG concentrations, which can confirm the important role of HMs in promoting drug resistance. The samples from a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) located an industrialized region were characterized by higher HM contamination and a higher number of significant correlations between the analyzed variables than the samples collected from a WWTP located in a less industrialized region. These results indicated that treated wastewater released into the natural environment can pose a continuous threat to human health by transferring ARGs, antibiotics and HMs to the environment. These findings shed light on the impact of industrialization on antibiotic resistance dissemination.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jakub Hubeny
- Department of Water Protection Engineering and Environmental Microbiology, Faculty of Geoengineering, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Olsztyn, Poland
| | - Monika Harnisz
- Department of Water Protection Engineering and Environmental Microbiology, Faculty of Geoengineering, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Olsztyn, Poland
- * E-mail: ,
| | - Ewa Korzeniewska
- Department of Water Protection Engineering and Environmental Microbiology, Faculty of Geoengineering, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Olsztyn, Poland
| | - Martyna Buta
- Department of Water Protection Engineering and Environmental Microbiology, Faculty of Geoengineering, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Olsztyn, Poland
| | - Wiktor Zieliński
- Department of Water Protection Engineering and Environmental Microbiology, Faculty of Geoengineering, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Olsztyn, Poland
| | - Damian Rolbiecki
- Department of Water Protection Engineering and Environmental Microbiology, Faculty of Geoengineering, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Olsztyn, Poland
| | - Joanna Giebułtowicz
- Department of Bioanalysis and Drug Analysis, Faculty of Pharmacy, Medical University of Warsaw, Warszawa, Poland
| | - Grzegorz Nałęcz-Jawecki
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Faculty of Pharmacy, Medical University of Warsaw, Warszawa, Poland
| | - Grażyna Płaza
- Faculty of Organization and Management, Silesian University of Technology, Zabrze, Poland
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25
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Lin ZJ, Zhou ZC, Zhu L, Meng LX, Shuai XY, Sun YJ, Chen H. Behavior of antibiotic resistance genes in a wastewater treatment plant with different upgrading processes. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2021; 771:144814. [PMID: 33540158 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.144814] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/27/2020] [Revised: 12/18/2020] [Accepted: 12/20/2020] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in China have been upgraded or renovated with a variety of emerging processes, but a comprehensive understanding of the behavior of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in these WWTPs is still lacking. Here, the distribution of ARGs and bacterial community were investigated in a wastewater treatment plant with upgrading processes (WWTP-UP). 238 unique ARGs were detected in all samples. During the study period, the average ARGs concentration decreased by 98.4% along the entire treatment process. The removal efficiency of A2/O-membrane bioreactor (MBR) process was significantly higher than that of A2/O-high efficiency flocculent settling/cloth media filter (HEFS/CMF) process (p < 0.05), which corresponded to 3.5 and 2.1 log values on average, respectively. Notably, 35 ARGs and 14 mobile genetic elements (MGEs) were persistent in all samples. Based on the co-occurrence pattern revealed by network analysis, persistent ARGs possibly spread through the transfer of persistent MGEs among persistent bacteria. Using multiple linear regression analysis, we obtained 3 to 5 possible indicators for major ARG types, which might be served to evaluate the general distribution of ARGs or even predict the abundance of different ARG types. Our findings provide new insights into the impacts of upgrading process on ARGs and highlight the need for better strategies to improve ARGs elimination in WWTPs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ze-Jun Lin
- Institute of Environmental Technology, College of Environmental and Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
| | - Zhen-Chao Zhou
- Institute of Environmental Technology, College of Environmental and Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
| | - Lin Zhu
- Institute of Environmental Technology, College of Environmental and Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
| | - Ling-Xuan Meng
- Institute of Environmental Technology, College of Environmental and Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
| | - Xin-Yi Shuai
- Institute of Environmental Technology, College of Environmental and Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
| | - Yu-Jie Sun
- Institute of Environmental Technology, College of Environmental and Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
| | - Hong Chen
- Institute of Environmental Technology, College of Environmental and Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China.
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26
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Guo B, Yu N, Weissbrodt DG, Liu Y. Effects of micro-aeration on microbial niches and antimicrobial resistances in blackwater anaerobic digesters. WATER RESEARCH 2021; 196:117035. [PMID: 33751974 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2021.117035] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2020] [Revised: 03/02/2021] [Accepted: 03/08/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Anaerobic digestion (AD) of source-diverted blackwater (toilet flush) at ambient room temperature presents challenges for fast hydrolysis of particulate matters. This study investigated the effect of different micro-aeration dosages for blackwater AD. Sequencing batch reactors were operated at ambient room temperature (22 ± 1°C) with micro-aeration (0, 5, 10, 50, and 150 mg O2 g-1 CODfeed per cycle) and gradually reduced hydraulic retention times from 5 d to 2 d. The methanogenesis efficiencies were greater at low oxygen dosages (i.e., 0, 5, 10) while the volatile fatty acids (VFAs) accumulated more at high oxygen dosages (i.e., 50, 150). Microbial communities were significantly different under different oxygen dosages (p<0.05), with segregation of microbial ecological niches in low and high oxygen dosage communities. The low-oxygen-dosage niche (0, 5, and 10 mg g-1 CODfeed) was inhabited by fermenting and syntrophic bacteria (e.g., Cytophaga, Syntrophomonas) and methanogens (e.g., Methanobacterium, Methanolinea, Methanosaeta). The high-oxygen-dosage niche (50 and 150 mg g-1 CODfeed) had significantly (p<0.05) more facultative anaerobic bacteria (Ignavibacteriales and Cloacamonales), and aerobic bacteria (Rhodocyclales). Moreover, blackwater can be a source of antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs), which are affected by different oxygen dosages. The ARG variation correlated with the microbial community composition (p<0.05). Low-oxygen-dosage communities contained a higher prevalence of mobile gene elements (intI1 and korB) and tetM, ermB, sul1, sul2, and blaCTX-M than the high-oxygen-dosage communities, indicating that oxygen dosage influenced the prevalence of populations carrying ARGs. These findings suggest that application of micro-aeration to AD can be used to control ARG profiles.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bing Guo
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 1H9, Canada; Department of Biotechnology, Delft University of Technology, Delft, Netherlands
| | - Najiaowa Yu
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 1H9, Canada
| | - David G Weissbrodt
- Department of Biotechnology, Delft University of Technology, Delft, Netherlands
| | - Yang Liu
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 1H9, Canada.
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27
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Bombaywala S, Mandpe A, Paliya S, Kumar S. Antibiotic resistance in the environment: a critical insight on its occurrence, fate, and eco-toxicity. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH INTERNATIONAL 2021; 28:24889-24916. [PMID: 33765260 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-021-13143-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/18/2020] [Accepted: 02/22/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
The overuse, misuse, and underuse of antibiotics tend to increase the antibiotic burden in the environment resulting into the evolution in microbial community to possess resistance that renders antibiotics ineffective against them. The current review recapitulates the present state of knowledge about the occurrence and fate of antibiotics in various environmental matrices. Also, the prevalence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria/antibiotic-resistant genes (ARB/ARGs) in various biological and non-biological systems, eco-toxicity of antibiotics on non-target organisms, and remediation methods for antibiotics and ARB/ARGs removal were critically reviewed. Furthermore, a comparison of various technologies for their efficiency to eliminate antibiotic residues and ARB/ARGs is made. The study identified gaps in the investigation of toxic effects of low concentration of antibiotics and the mixture of multiple antibiotics on non-target organisms. The study of antibiotics' phytotoxicity and toxicity towards sediment and soil-dwelling organisms are also recognized as a knowledge gap. The review also details policies implemented across the globe to fight against antibiotic resistance, and the scarcity of data on lab to land transferred remediation technology was identified. The present study entails a critical review of literature providing guidelines for the articulation of policies for prudent use of antibiotics, limits on the amount of antibiotics in pharmaceutical formulations, and regular surveillance in the Indian context.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sakina Bombaywala
- Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad, 2010 02, India
- CSIR-National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (CSIR-NEERI), Nehru Marg, Nagpur, 4400 20, India
| | - Ashootosh Mandpe
- Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad, 2010 02, India
- CSIR-National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (CSIR-NEERI), Nehru Marg, Nagpur, 4400 20, India
| | - Sonam Paliya
- Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad, 2010 02, India
- CSIR-National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (CSIR-NEERI), Nehru Marg, Nagpur, 4400 20, India
| | - Sunil Kumar
- Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad, 2010 02, India.
- CSIR-National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (CSIR-NEERI), Nehru Marg, Nagpur, 4400 20, India.
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28
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Comparison of bacterial communities and antibiotic resistance genes in oxidation ditches and membrane bioreactors. Sci Rep 2021; 11:8955. [PMID: 33903636 PMCID: PMC8076264 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-88335-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2020] [Accepted: 04/08/2021] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Oxidation ditches (ODs) and membrane bioreactors (MBRs) are widely used in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) with bacteria and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) running through the whole system. In this study, metagenomic sequencing was used to compare the bacterial communities and ARGs in the OD and MBR systems, which received the same influent in a WWTP located in Xinjiang, China. The results showed that the removal efficiency of pollutants by the MBR process was better than that by the OD process. The composition and the relative abundance of bacteria in activated sludge were similar at the phylum and genus levels and were not affected by process type. Multidrug, fluoroquinolones and peptides were the main ARG types for the two processes, with macB being the main ARG subtype, and the relative abundance of ARG subtypes in MBR effluent was much higher than that in the OD effluent. The mobile genetic elements (MGEs) in the activated sludge were mainly transposons (tnpA) and insertion sequences (ISs; IS91). These results provide a theoretical basis for process selection and controlling the spread of ARGs.
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29
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Bombaywala S, Dafale NA, Jha V, Bajaj A, Purohit HJ. Study of indiscriminate distribution of restrained antimicrobial resistome of different environmental niches. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH INTERNATIONAL 2021; 28:10780-10790. [PMID: 33099734 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-020-11318-6] [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: 06/29/2020] [Accepted: 10/18/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Prophylactic usage and high persistent nature of several antibiotics have put selective pressure on the native microbial population that led to the emergence, propagation, and persistence of antibiotic resistance in nature. The surveillance of antibiotic resistome pattern and identification of points of intervention throughout the different environmental habitats will help to break the flow of antibiotic resistance from environmental bacteria to human pathogens. The present study compares the occurrence, diversity, and abundance of ARGs in industrial sludge, wetland sludge, and sediment sample contaminated with pharmaceutical discharge. Metagenomes were mined for the presence of ARGs against the ResFinder 3.2 database using BLASTn program. Pharmaceutical sample (2.52%) showed high degree of ARG abundance and richness as compared with ETP sludge (2.28%) and wetland sludge samples (1.29%). The modern resistome pattern represented by critically important resistance genes against tetracycline (tetA, tetC, tetW, tetT, and tetS/M) and quinolone (qnrS, qnrVC, and qnrD) was identified in pharmaceutical sediment sample. However, effluent treatment plant (ETP) sludge sample showed abundance of multidrug efflux pumps indicating the presence of primitive resistome profile. In conclusion, the indiscriminate distribution pattern of antibiotic resistance genes in three selected environmental sites suggests enrichment and distribution of environmental niche-driven resistance. The study also suggests effluent discharge site from pharmaceutical industries and ETPs as pivotal points of intervention for the mitigation of antibiotic resistance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sakina Bombaywala
- Environmental Biotechnology and Genomics Division, CSIR - National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), Nagpur, 440020, India
- Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad, 201002, India
| | - Nishant A Dafale
- Environmental Biotechnology and Genomics Division, CSIR - National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), Nagpur, 440020, India.
- Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad, 201002, India.
| | - Varsha Jha
- Environmental Biotechnology and Genomics Division, CSIR - National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), Nagpur, 440020, India
- Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad, 201002, India
| | - Abhay Bajaj
- Environmental Biotechnology and Genomics Division, CSIR - National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), Nagpur, 440020, India
| | - Hemant J Purohit
- Environmental Biotechnology and Genomics Division, CSIR - National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), Nagpur, 440020, India
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Zarei-Baygi A, Wang P, Harb M, Stadler LB, Smith AL. Membrane Fouling Inversely Impacts Intracellular and Extracellular Antibiotic Resistance Gene Abundances in the Effluent of an Anaerobic Membrane Bioreactor. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2020; 54:12742-12751. [PMID: 32875793 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.0c04787] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Anaerobic membrane bioreactors (AnMBRs) can significantly reduce the release of antibiotic resistance elements to the environment. The purpose of this study was to elucidate the role of membrane fouling layers (biofilms) in mitigating the release of intracellular and extracellular antibiotic resistance genes (iARGs and eARGs) from an AnMBR. The AnMBR was equipped with three membrane modules, each exhibiting a different level of fouling. Results showed that the absolute abundance of ARGs decreased gradually in the suspended biomass during operation of the AnMBR. Normalized abundances of targeted ARGs and intI1 were found to be significantly higher in the fouling layers compared to the suspended biomass, implying adsorption or an increased potential for horizontal gene transfer of ARGs in the biofilm. Effluent ARG data revealed that the highly fouled (HF) membrane significantly reduced the absolute abundance of eARGs. However, the HF membrane effluent concomitantly had the highest absolute abundance of iARGs. Nevertheless, total ARG abundance (sum of iARG and eARG) in the effluent of the AnMBR was not impacted by the extent of fouling. These results suggest a need for a combination of different treatment technologies to effectively prevent antibiotic resistance proliferation associated with these two ARG fractions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ali Zarei-Baygi
- Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Southern California, 3620 S Vermont Avenue, Los Angeles, California 90089, United States
| | - Phillip Wang
- Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Southern California, 3620 S Vermont Avenue, Los Angeles, California 90089, United States
| | - Moustapha Harb
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Lebanese American University, 309 Bassil Building, Byblos 1102, Lebanon
| | - Lauren B Stadler
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Rice University, 6100 Main Street, Houston, Texas 77005, United States
| | - Adam L Smith
- Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Southern California, 3620 S Vermont Avenue, Los Angeles, California 90089, United States
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Identification of Selected Antibiotic Resistance Genes in Two Different Wastewater Treatment Plant Systems in Poland: A Preliminary Study. Molecules 2020; 25:molecules25122851. [PMID: 32575673 PMCID: PMC7355585 DOI: 10.3390/molecules25122851] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2020] [Revised: 06/05/2020] [Accepted: 06/18/2020] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Antibiotic resistance is a growing problem worldwide. The emergence and rapid spread of antibiotic resistance determinants have led to an increasing concern about the potential environmental and public health endangering. Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) play an important role in this phenomenon since antibacterial drugs introduced into wastewater can exert a selection pressure on antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB) and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs). Therefore, WWTPs are perceived as the main sources of antibiotics, ARB and ARG spread in various environmental components. Furthermore, technological processes used in WWTPs and its exploitation conditions may influence the effectiveness of antibiotic resistance determinants’ elimination. The main aim of the present study was to compare the occurrence of selected tetracycline and sulfonamide resistance genes in raw influent and final effluent samples from two WWTPs different in terms of size and applied biological wastewater treatment processes (conventional activated sludge (AS)-based and combining a conventional AS-based method with constructed wetlands (CWs)). All 13 selected ARGs were detected in raw influent and final effluent samples from both WWTPs. Significant ARG enrichment, especially for tet(B, K, L, O) and sulIII genes, was observed in conventional WWTP. The obtained data did not show a clear trend in seasonal fluctuations in the abundance of selected resistance genes in wastewaters.
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Wu DL, Zhang M, He LX, Zou HY, Liu YS, Li BB, Yang YY, Liu C, He LY, Ying GG. Contamination profile of antibiotic resistance genes in ground water in comparison with surface water. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2020; 715:136975. [PMID: 32018106 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.136975] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/04/2019] [Revised: 01/26/2020] [Accepted: 01/26/2020] [Indexed: 05/21/2023]
Abstract
Dissemination of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in the water environment has become an increasing concern. There have been many reports on ARGs in surface water, but little is known about ARGs in groundwater. In this study, we investigated the profiles and abundance of ARGs in groundwater in comparison with those in surface water of Maozhou River using high-throughput quantitative PCR (HT-qPCR). Totally 127 ARGs and 10 MGEs were detected by HT-qPCR, and among them the sulfonamides, multidrug and aminoglycosides resistance genes were the dominant ARG types. According to the results of HT-qPCR, 18 frequently detected ARGs conferring resistance to 6 classes of antibiotics and 3 MGEs were further quantified by qPCR in the wet season and dry season. The absolute abundance ranged from 1.23 × 105 to 8.89 × 106 copies/mL in wet season and from 8.50 × 102 to 2.65 × 106 copies/mL in the dry season, with sul1 and sul2 being the most abundant ARGs. The absolute abundance of ARGs and MGEs has no significant difference between the wet season and dry season while the diversity of ARGs in the dry season was higher than that in the wet season (p < 0.05). Totally 141 and 150 ARGs were detected in the water and sediments of Maozhou River, respectively. A total of 116 ARGs were shared among the groundwater, river water, and sediment, which accounted for 67.1% of all detected genes. Redundancy analysis further demonstrated that the environmental factors contributed 70.7% of the total ARG variations. The findings of large shared ARGs, abundant Total Coliforms and large wastewater burden in the groundwater provide a clear evidence that anthropogenic activities had a significant impact on groundwater.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dai-Ling Wu
- SCNU Environmental Research Institute, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Chemical Pollution and Environmental Safety & MOE Key Laboratory of Theoretical Chemistry of Environment, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510006, China; School of Environment, South China Normal University, University Town, Guangzhou 510006, China
| | - Min Zhang
- SCNU Environmental Research Institute, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Chemical Pollution and Environmental Safety & MOE Key Laboratory of Theoretical Chemistry of Environment, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510006, China; School of Environment, South China Normal University, University Town, Guangzhou 510006, China
| | - Lu-Xi He
- SCNU Environmental Research Institute, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Chemical Pollution and Environmental Safety & MOE Key Laboratory of Theoretical Chemistry of Environment, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510006, China; School of Environment, South China Normal University, University Town, Guangzhou 510006, China
| | - Hai-Yan Zou
- SCNU Environmental Research Institute, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Chemical Pollution and Environmental Safety & MOE Key Laboratory of Theoretical Chemistry of Environment, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510006, China; School of Environment, South China Normal University, University Town, Guangzhou 510006, China
| | - You-Sheng Liu
- SCNU Environmental Research Institute, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Chemical Pollution and Environmental Safety & MOE Key Laboratory of Theoretical Chemistry of Environment, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510006, China; School of Environment, South China Normal University, University Town, Guangzhou 510006, China
| | - Bei-Bei Li
- SCNU Environmental Research Institute, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Chemical Pollution and Environmental Safety & MOE Key Laboratory of Theoretical Chemistry of Environment, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510006, China; School of Environment, South China Normal University, University Town, Guangzhou 510006, China
| | - Yuan-Yuan Yang
- SCNU Environmental Research Institute, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Chemical Pollution and Environmental Safety & MOE Key Laboratory of Theoretical Chemistry of Environment, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510006, China; School of Environment, South China Normal University, University Town, Guangzhou 510006, China
| | - Chongxuan Liu
- School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China
| | - Liang-Ying He
- SCNU Environmental Research Institute, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Chemical Pollution and Environmental Safety & MOE Key Laboratory of Theoretical Chemistry of Environment, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510006, China; School of Environment, South China Normal University, University Town, Guangzhou 510006, China
| | - Guang-Guo Ying
- SCNU Environmental Research Institute, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Chemical Pollution and Environmental Safety & MOE Key Laboratory of Theoretical Chemistry of Environment, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510006, China; School of Environment, South China Normal University, University Town, Guangzhou 510006, China.
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Reactive Barriers for Renaturalization of Reclaimed Water during Soil Aquifer Treatment. WATER 2020. [DOI: 10.3390/w12041012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Managed aquifer recharge (MAR) is known to increase available water quantity and to improve water quality. However, its implementation is hindered by the concern of polluting aquifers, which might lead to onerous treatment and regulatory requirements for the source water. These requirements might make MAR unsustainable both economically and energetically. To address these concerns, we tested reactive barriers laid at the bottom of infiltration basins to enhance water quality improvement during soil passage. The goal of the barriers was to (1) provide a range of sorption sites to favor the retention of chemical contaminants and pathogens; (2) favor the development of a sequence of redox states to promote the degradation of the most recalcitrant chemical contaminants; and (3) promote the growth of plants both to reduce clogging, and to supply organic carbon and sorption sites. We summarized our experience to show that the barriers did enhance the removal of organic pollutants of concern (e.g., pharmaceuticals and personal care products). However, the barriers did not increase the removal of pathogens beyond traditional MAR systems. We reviewed the literature to suggest improvements on the design of the system to improve pathogen attenuation and to address antibiotic resistance gene transfer.
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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: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.5] [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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Sui Q, Chen Y, Yu D, Wang T, Hai Y, Zhang J, Chen M, Wei Y. Fates of intracellular and extracellular antibiotic resistance genes and microbial community structures in typical swine wastewater treatment processes. ENVIRONMENT INTERNATIONAL 2019; 133:105183. [PMID: 31675559 DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2019.105183] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2019] [Revised: 09/10/2019] [Accepted: 09/11/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Swine wastewater is an important reservoir of spread antibiotic resistance to the environment. Intra- and extracellular antibiotic resistance genes (iARGs and eARGs) were quantified during two typical swine wastewater treatment processes including a sequencing membrane bioreactor (SMBR) at pilot-scale and anaerobic-anoxic-oxic (A2O) at full-scale. The concentrations of iARGs and eARGs in raw wastewater were 3.42E+09 and 3.79E+07 copies/mL, respectively. The compositions were different between iARGs and eARGs. SMBR showed 0.63 log higher removals in the concentrations of iARG than A2O, while similar removal effects (3.01-3.44 log copies/mL) of eARGs were performed by the two processes. It suggested that membrane separation had advantages in the concentration removals of iARG rather than eARG. sul1 took the dominance in eARGs in effluent and had positive correlations with intI1, which indicated the risk of horizontal gene transfer of eARGs after wastewater discharge. Microbial community structures were estimated by 16S rRNA gene sequencing with both intra- and extracellular DNA (iDNA and eDNA). Compared between the effluent samples of the two treatment processes, microbial community structures estimated by iDNA had great differences, however which were similar for eDNA. Microbial community and water-quality parameters were the major influencing factors on ARG occurrences during swine wastewater treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qianwen Sui
- State Key Joint Laboratory of Environmental Simulation and Pollution Control, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China; Department of Water Pollution Control, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China
| | - Yanlin Chen
- State Key Joint Laboratory of Environmental Simulation and Pollution Control, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China; Department of Water Pollution Control, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Dawei Yu
- State Key Joint Laboratory of Environmental Simulation and Pollution Control, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China; Department of Water Pollution Control, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China
| | - Tuo Wang
- State Key Joint Laboratory of Environmental Simulation and Pollution Control, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China; Department of Water Pollution Control, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Yonglong Hai
- State Key Joint Laboratory of Environmental Simulation and Pollution Control, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China; Department of Water Pollution Control, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Junya Zhang
- State Key Joint Laboratory of Environmental Simulation and Pollution Control, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China; Department of Water Pollution Control, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China
| | - Meixue Chen
- State Key Joint Laboratory of Environmental Simulation and Pollution Control, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China; Department of Water Pollution Control, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China.
| | - Yuansong Wei
- State Key Joint Laboratory of Environmental Simulation and Pollution Control, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China; Department of Water Pollution Control, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
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Pei M, Zhang B, He Y, Su J, Gin K, Lev O, Shen G, Hu S. State of the art of tertiary treatment technologies for controlling antibiotic resistance in wastewater treatment plants. ENVIRONMENT INTERNATIONAL 2019; 131:105026. [PMID: 31351383 DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2019.105026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 72] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2019] [Revised: 07/15/2019] [Accepted: 07/15/2019] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
Antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) have been considered as emerging contaminants of concern nowadays. There are no special technologies designed to directly remove ARGs in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). In order to reduce the risk of ARGs, it is vital to understand the efficiency of advanced treatment technologies in removing antibiotic resistance genes in WWTPs. This review highlights the application and efficiency of tertiary treatment technologies on the elimination of ARGs, s, based on an understanding of their occurrence and fate in WWTPs. These technologies include chemical-based processes such as chlorination, ozonation, ultraviolet, and advanced oxidation technology, as well as physical separation processes, biological processes such as constructed wetland and membrane bioreactor, and soil aquifer treatment. The merits, limitations and ameliorative measures of these processes are discussed, with the view to optimizing future treatment strategies and identifying new research directions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mengke Pei
- School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
| | - Bo Zhang
- School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China.
| | - Yiliang He
- School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
| | - Jianqiang Su
- Key Lab of Urban Environment and Health, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1799 Jimei Road, Xiamen 361021, China
| | - Karina Gin
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, National University of Singapore, 1 Engineering Drive 2, Singapore 117576, Singapore
| | - Ovadia Lev
- The Casali Center and the Institute of Chemistry and The Harvey M. Krueger Family Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Edmond J. Safra Campus, Jerusalem 91904, Israel
| | - Genxiang Shen
- Shanghai Academy of Environmental Sciences, Shanghai 200233, China
| | - Shuangqing Hu
- Shanghai Academy of Environmental Sciences, Shanghai 200233, China
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Yuan QB, Huang YM, Wu WB, Zuo P, Hu N, Zhou YZ, Alvarez PJJ. Redistribution of intracellular and extracellular free & adsorbed antibiotic resistance genes through a wastewater treatment plant by an enhanced extracellular DNA extraction method with magnetic beads. ENVIRONMENT INTERNATIONAL 2019; 131:104986. [PMID: 31299601 DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2019.104986] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2019] [Revised: 05/31/2019] [Accepted: 06/30/2019] [Indexed: 05/13/2023]
Abstract
Due to the limitations of current extraction methods, extracellular DNA (eDNA) is rarely discerned from intracellular DNA (iDNA) despite having unique contributions to antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) propagation. Furthermore, eDNA may be free (f-eDNA) or adsorbed to or suspended solids, including cells (a-eDNA), which affects ARG persistence and transmissivity. We developed a novel method using magnetic beads to separate iDNA, a-eDNA, and f-eDNA to assess how these physical states of ARGs change across a wastewater treatment plant. This method efficiently extracted eDNA (>85.3%) with higher recovery than current methods such as alcohol precipitation, CTAB-based extraction, and DNA extraction kits (<10%). Biological treatment and UV disinfection decreased the concentration of intracellular ARGs (iARGs) and adsorbed extracellular ARGs (a-eARGs), causing an increase of released free extracellular ARGs (f-eARGs). More ARGs were discharged through the wasted biosolids than in the effluent; iARGs and a-eARGs are prevalent in wasted biosolids ((73.9 ± 22.5) % and (23.4 ± 15.3) % of total ARGs respectively), while f-eARGs were prevalent in the effluent ((90.3 ± 16.5) %). Bacterial community analysis showed significant correlations between specific genera and ARGs (e.g., Aeromonas, Pseudomonas and Acinetobacter were strongly correlated with multidrug-resistance gene blaTEM). This treatment system decreased the discharge of iARGs to receiving environments, however, increased eARG concentrations were present in the effluent, which may contribute to the environmental resistome.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qing-Bin Yuan
- College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing 211816, China; Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Rice University, Houston, TX 77251, USA.
| | - Ya-Meng Huang
- College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing 211816, China
| | - Wen-Bin Wu
- College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing 211816, China
| | - Pengxiao Zuo
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Rice University, Houston, TX 77251, USA
| | - Nan Hu
- College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing 211816, China
| | - Yong-Zhang Zhou
- College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing 211816, China
| | - Pedro J J Alvarez
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Rice University, Houston, TX 77251, USA.
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Hiller CX, Hübner U, Fajnorova S, Schwartz T, Drewes JE. Antibiotic microbial resistance (AMR) removal efficiencies by conventional and advanced wastewater treatment processes: A review. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2019; 685:596-608. [PMID: 31195321 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.05.315] [Citation(s) in RCA: 121] [Impact Index Per Article: 24.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/23/2019] [Revised: 05/15/2019] [Accepted: 05/20/2019] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
The World Health Organization (WHO) has identified the spread of antibiotic resistance as one of the major risks to global public health. An important transfer route into the aquatic environment is the urban water cycle. In this paper the occurrence and transport of antibiotic microbial resistance in the urban water cycle are critically reviewed. The presence of antibiotic resistance in low impacted surface water is being discussed to determine background antibiotic resistance levels, which might serve as a reference for treatment targets in the absence of health-based threshold levels. Different biological, physical and disinfection/oxidation processes employed in wastewater treatment and their efficacy regarding their removal of antibiotic resistant bacteria and antibiotic resistance geness (ARGs) were evaluated. A more efficient removal of antibiotic microbial resistance abundances from wastewater effluents can be achieved by advanced treatment processes, including membrane filtration, ozonation, UV-irradiation or chlorination, to levels typically observed in urban surface water or low impacted surface water.
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Affiliation(s)
- C X Hiller
- Urban Water Systems Engineering, Technical University of Munich, Am Coulombwall 3, 85748 Garching, Germany
| | - U Hübner
- Urban Water Systems Engineering, Technical University of Munich, Am Coulombwall 3, 85748 Garching, Germany
| | - S Fajnorova
- Urban Water Systems Engineering, Technical University of Munich, Am Coulombwall 3, 85748 Garching, Germany; Department of Water Technology and Environmental Engineering, University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague, Technická 5, 166 28 Praha, Czech Republic
| | - T Schwartz
- Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) - Campus North, Institute of Functional Interfaces (IFG), Microbiology at Natural and Technical Interfaces Department, 76021 Karlsruhe, Germany
| | - J E Drewes
- Urban Water Systems Engineering, Technical University of Munich, Am Coulombwall 3, 85748 Garching, Germany.
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Li B, Qiu Y, Li J, Liang P, Huang X. Removal of antibiotic resistance genes in four full-scale membrane bioreactors. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2019; 653:112-119. [PMID: 30408659 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.10.305] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2018] [Revised: 10/21/2018] [Accepted: 10/22/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
Antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) discharged through wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) has aroused growing public concern for its risk to human health and ecological safety. Membrane bioreactor (MBR) has been recognized as an effective approach to remove ARGs in full-scale WWTPs, but its advantage over traditional processes was not clearly quantified. To address this, we investigated four full-scale WWTPs containing parallel MBR and traditional processes (oxidation ditch or sequencing batch reactor) to compare the reduction of eight types of ARGs (blaTEM, ermB, tetW, tetO, sul1, sul2, addD, and qnrS) and int1. In general, MBRs reduced the ARGs (1.1-7.3 log removal) better than parallel processes (0.4-4.2 log removal). Notably, the dominant ARGs in the influent, such as ermB, sul1 and int1 (106.39-107.79 copies/mL), were more effectively reduced by MBRs (1.5-7.3 log removal) than traditional processes (0.8-3.4 log removal). Meanwhile, the distribution of those ARGs in activated sludge was not significantly different between aforementioned processes (p > 0.05). The separation coefficient (Ksw) was proposed to represent the contribution of solid separation on ARG removal, subsequent analysis revealed surprisingly strong correlation between Ksw values of dominant ARGs (ermB, sul1 and int1) and their log removal by MBR (R = 0.79-0.96, p < 0.05), while such correlation was much weaker in traditional process (R = 0.33-0.37), indicating solid separation was the major pathway for removal of dominant ARGs and int1. According to the canonical correlation analysis between process operation and ARG removal in MBR, sludge retention time (SRT) seemed to be the major factor affecting removal of dominant ARGs and int1. This comparative study can be helpful for further understanding and operating MBR process to reduce the ARGs in effluent.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bing Li
- School of Energy and Environmental Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing, 100083, China; State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.
| | - Yong Qiu
- State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.
| | - Ji Li
- School of Environmental and Civil Engineering, Jiangnan University, Wuxi City, Jiangsu Province 214122, China
| | - Peng Liang
- State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
| | - Xia Huang
- State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
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Ng C, Tan B, Jiang XT, Gu X, Chen H, Schmitz BW, Haller L, Charles FR, Zhang T, Gin K. Metagenomic and Resistome Analysis of a Full-Scale Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plant in Singapore Containing Membrane Bioreactors. Front Microbiol 2019; 10:172. [PMID: 30833934 PMCID: PMC6387931 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2019.00172] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2018] [Accepted: 01/22/2019] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Reclaimed water provides a water supply alternative to address problems of scarcity in urbanized cities with high living densities and limited natural water resources. In this study, wastewater metagenomes from 6 stages of a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) integrating conventional and membrane bioreactor (MBR) treatment were evaluated for diversity of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and bacteria, and relative abundance of class 1 integron integrases (intl1). ARGs confering resistance to 12 classes of antibiotics (ARG types) persisted through the treatment stages, which included genes that confer resistance to aminoglycoside [aadA, aph(6)-I, aph(3')-I, aac(6')-I, aac(6')-II, ant(2″)-I], beta-lactams [class A, class C, class D beta-lactamases (bla OXA)], chloramphenicol (acetyltransferase, exporters, floR, cmIA), fosmidomycin (rosAB), macrolide-lincosamide-streptogramin (macAB, ereA, ermFB), multidrug resistance (subunits of transporters), polymyxin (arnA), quinolone (qnrS), rifamycin (arr), sulfonamide (sul1, sul2), and tetracycline (tetM, tetG, tetE, tet36, tet39, tetR, tet43, tetQ, tetX). Although the ARG subtypes in sludge and MBR effluents reduced in diversity relative to the influent, clinically relevant beta lactamases (i.e., bla KPC, bla OXA) were detected, casting light on other potential point sources of ARG dissemination within the wastewater treatment process. To gain a deeper insight into the types of bacteria that may survive the MBR removal process, genome bins were recovered from metagenomic data of MBR effluents. A total of 101 close to complete draft genomes were assembled and annotated to reveal a variety of bacteria bearing metal resistance genes and ARGs in the MBR effluent. Three bins in particular were affiliated to Mycobacterium smegmatis, Acinetobacter Iwoffii, and Flavobacterium psychrophila, and carried aquired ARGs aac(2')-Ib, bla OXA-278, and tet36 respectively. In terms of indicator organisms, cumulative log removal values (LRV) of Escherichia coli, Enterococci, and P. aeruginosa from influent to conventional treated effluent was lower (0-2.4), compared to MBR effluent (5.3-7.4). We conclude that MBR is an effective treatment method for reducing fecal indicators and ARGs; however, incomplete removal of P. aeruginosa in MBR treated effluents (<8 MPN/100 mL) and the presence of ARGs and intl1 underscores the need to establish if further treatment should be applied prior to reuse.
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Affiliation(s)
- Charmaine Ng
- Department of Surgery, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Boonfei Tan
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada
| | - Xiao-Tao Jiang
- Environmental Biotechnology Lab, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong
| | - Xiaoqiong Gu
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Hongjie Chen
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Bradley William Schmitz
- JHU/Stantec Alliance, Department of Environmental Health and Engineering, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States
| | - Laurence Haller
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Francis Rathinam Charles
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Tong Zhang
- Environmental Biotechnology Lab, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong
| | - Karina Gin
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
- NUS Environmental Research Institute, Singapore, Singapore
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Krzeminski P, Tomei MC, Karaolia P, Langenhoff A, Almeida CMR, Felis E, Gritten F, Andersen HR, Fernandes T, Manaia CM, Rizzo L, Fatta-Kassinos D. Performance of secondary wastewater treatment methods for the removal of contaminants of emerging concern implicated in crop uptake and antibiotic resistance spread: A review. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2019; 648:1052-1081. [PMID: 30340253 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.08.130] [Citation(s) in RCA: 194] [Impact Index Per Article: 38.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2018] [Revised: 08/09/2018] [Accepted: 08/09/2018] [Indexed: 05/18/2023]
Abstract
Contaminants of emerging concern (CEC) discharged in effluents of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), not specifically designed for their removal, pose serious hazards to human health and ecosystems. Their impact is of particular relevance to wastewater disposal and re-use in agricultural settings due to CEC uptake and accumulation in food crops and consequent diffusion into the food-chain. This is the reason why the chemical CEC discussed in this review have been selected considering, besides recalcitrance, frequency of detection and entity of potential hazards, their relevance for crop uptake. Antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB) and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) have been included as microbial CEC because of the potential of secondary wastewater treatment to offer conditions favourable to the survival and proliferation of ARB, and dissemination of ARGs. Given the adverse effects of chemical and microbial CEC, their removal is being considered as an additional design criterion, which highlights the necessity of upgrading conventional WWTPs with more effective technologies. In this review, the performance of currently applied biological treatment methods for secondary treatment is analysed. To this end, technological solutions including conventional activated sludge (CAS), membrane bioreactors (MBRs), moving bed biofilm reactors (MBBRs), and nature-based solutions such as constructed wetlands (CWs) are compared for the achievable removal efficiencies of the selected CEC and their potential of acting as reservoirs of ARB&ARGs. With the aim of giving a picture of real systems, this review focuses on data from full-scale and pilot-scale plants treating real urban wastewater. To achieve an integrated assessment, technologies are compared considering also other relevant evaluation parameters such as investment and management costs, complexity of layout and management, present scale of application and need of a post-treatment. Comparison results allow the definition of design and operation strategies for the implementation of CEC removal in WWTPs, when agricultural reuse of effluents is planned.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pawel Krzeminski
- Section of Systems Engineering and Technology, Norwegian Institute for Water Research (NIVA), Gaustadalléen 21, N-0349 Oslo, Norway
| | - Maria Concetta Tomei
- Water Research Institute, C.N.R., Via Salaria km 29.300, CP 10, 00015 Monterotondo Stazione (Rome), Italy.
| | - Popi Karaolia
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Nireas-International Water Research Center, School of Engineering, University of Cyprus, P.O. Box 20537, 1678 Nicosia, Cyprus
| | - Alette Langenhoff
- Sub-department of Environmental Technology, Wageningen University and Research, P.O. Box 17, 6700 AA Wageningen, the Netherlands
| | - C Marisa R Almeida
- CIIMAR - Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research of the University of Porto, Novo Edifício do Terminal de Cruzeiros do Porto de Leixões, Avenida General Norton de Matos, S/N, 4450-208 Matosinhos, Portugal
| | - Ewa Felis
- Environmental Biotechnology Department, Faculty of Power and Environmental Engineering, Silesian University of Technology, ul. Akademicka 2, 44-100 Gliwice, Poland
| | - Fanny Gritten
- CEBEDEAU, Research and Expertise Center for Water, Allée de la Découverte 11 (B53), Quartier Polytech 1, B-4000 Liège, Belgium
| | - Henrik Rasmus Andersen
- Department of Environmental Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, Bygningstorvet 115, 2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark
| | - Telma Fernandes
- Universidade Católica Portuguesa, CBQF - Centro de Biotecnologia e Química Fina - Laboratório Associado, Escola Superior de Biotecnologia, Rua Arquiteto Lobão Vital, 172, 4200-374 Porto, Portugal
| | - Celia M Manaia
- Universidade Católica Portuguesa, CBQF - Centro de Biotecnologia e Química Fina - Laboratório Associado, Escola Superior de Biotecnologia, Rua Arquiteto Lobão Vital, 172, 4200-374 Porto, Portugal
| | - Luigi Rizzo
- Department of Civil Engineering, University of Salerno, 84084 Fisciano, SA, Italy
| | - Despo Fatta-Kassinos
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Nireas-International Water Research Center, School of Engineering, University of Cyprus, P.O. Box 20537, 1678 Nicosia, Cyprus
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McConnell MM, Truelstrup Hansen L, Jamieson RC, Neudorf KD, Yost CK, Tong A. Removal of antibiotic resistance genes in two tertiary level municipal wastewater treatment plants. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2018; 643:292-300. [PMID: 29940441 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.06.212] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2018] [Revised: 06/17/2018] [Accepted: 06/17/2018] [Indexed: 04/15/2023]
Abstract
Raw wastewater can contain high levels of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), making municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) critical for the control of the release of ARGs into the environment. The objective of this study was to investigate how individual treatment steps in two tertiary WWTPs affected the removal (copies/mL) and relative abundance of ARGs (copies/copies 16S rRNA genes). Nine ARG markers, representing resistance to commonly used antibiotics, as well as one integron gene (intl1) to assess ARG mobility potential, were quantified using quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR). Both WWTPs met provincial effluent regulations for removal of carbonaceous oxygen demand (CBOD5) and total suspended solids. Eight of the ten ARG markers (intl1, sul1, sul2, tet(O), ermB, blaCTX-M, blaTEM, qnrS) were detected in all samples. In contrast, mecA was detected intermittently and vanA remained below the detection limit in all samples. The total ARG marker abundances decreased by log 1.77 (p < 0.05) in the plant using an aerated lagoon (AL), and by 2.69 logs (p < 0.05) through treatment in the plant employing a biological nutrient removal (BNR) system. The BNR and secondary clarifier steps in both plants afforded the most removal of ARGs. The relative abundance of ARGs remained unchanged at the AL plant and showed a decreasing trend at the BNR plant. Levels of CBOD5, nitrate and the human Bacteroides fecal marker correlated with ARG concentrations, suggesting these variables may be useful in predicting ARG removal. In conclusion, the effluent coming from the WWTPs contained eight of the studied ARG markers in concentrations ranging from 0.01 to 3.6 log copies/mL, indicating their release into the environment, however, the relative abundance of ARGs was not enriched during treatment in the two WWTPs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mandy M McConnell
- Department of Civil and Resources Engineering, Dalhousie University, 1360 Barrington Street, Halifax B3H 4R2, Canada
| | - Lisbeth Truelstrup Hansen
- Department of Process Engineering and Applied Science, Dalhousie University, 1360 Barrington Street, Halifax B3H 4R2, Canada.
| | - Rob C Jamieson
- Department of Civil and Resources Engineering, Dalhousie University, 1360 Barrington Street, Halifax B3H 4R2, Canada
| | - Kara D Neudorf
- Department of Process Engineering and Applied Science, Dalhousie University, 1360 Barrington Street, Halifax B3H 4R2, Canada
| | - Christopher K Yost
- Department of Biology, University of Regina, 3737 Wascana Parkway, Regina, SK S4S 0A2, Canada
| | - Anthony Tong
- Department of Chemistry, Acadia University, 6 University Avenue, Wolfville, Nova Scotia, B4P 2R6, Canada
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Le TH, Ng C, Tran NH, Chen H, Gin KYH. Removal of antibiotic residues, antibiotic resistant bacteria and antibiotic resistance genes in municipal wastewater by membrane bioreactor systems. WATER RESEARCH 2018; 145:498-508. [PMID: 30193193 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2018.08.060] [Citation(s) in RCA: 154] [Impact Index Per Article: 25.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/23/2018] [Revised: 08/26/2018] [Accepted: 08/27/2018] [Indexed: 05/22/2023]
Abstract
Antibiotic residues, antibiotic resistant bacteria (ARB) and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) are considered new classes of water contaminants due to their potential adverse effects on aquatic ecosystems and human health. This paper provides comprehensive data on the occurrences of 19 antibiotics, bacteria resistant to 10 antibiotics, and 15 ARGs in raw influent and different treatment stages of conventional activated sludge (CAS) and membrane bioreactor (MBR) systems. Seventeen out of the 19 target antibiotics were detected in raw influent with concentrations of up to ten micrograms per liter. Concentrations of antibiotics measured in the secondary effluent were much lower compared to those in the raw influent. Among the antibiotics, amoxicillin, azithromycin, ciprofloxacin, chloramphenicol, meropenem, minocycline, oxytetracycline, sulfamethazine and vancomycin had highest removal by CAS or MBR systems with median removal efficiency (RE) > 70%, while trimethoprim and lincomycin were recalcitrant in the CAS system with median RE <50%. Similarly, the target ARB and ARGs were omnipresent in the raw influent samples with average concentrations as high as 2.6 × 106 CFU/mL and 2.0 × 107 gene copies/mL, respectively. The concentrations of ARB in secondary effluent of the CAS system declined relative to the raw influent (i.e. lower than raw influent by 2-3 orders of magnitude) and no ARB were detected in the MF permeate of the MBR system. For ARGs, their concentrations in secondary effluent/MF permeate ranged from below method quantification limit (<MQL) to 104 gene copies/mL. It is noteworthy that several ARGs, i.e. blaKPC, blaNDM, blaSHV, ermB, intI1, sul1 and tetO, were still found in the MF permeate of the MBR system at average concentrations up to 103 copies/mL. In conclusion, MBR outperformed CAS in the elimination of ARB, ARGs and most target antibiotics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thai-Hoang Le
- Department of Environmental Engineering, International University, Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; NUS Environmental Research Institute (NERI), National University of Singapore, Singapore, T-Lab Building (# 02-01), 5A Engineering Drive 1, 117411, Singapore
| | - Charmaine Ng
- National University of Singapore, Department of Surgery, 1E Kent Ridge Road, NUHS Tower Block, Level 8, 119228, Singapore; NUS Environmental Research Institute (NERI), National University of Singapore, Singapore, T-Lab Building (# 02-01), 5A Engineering Drive 1, 117411, Singapore
| | - Ngoc Han Tran
- NUS Environmental Research Institute (NERI), National University of Singapore, Singapore, T-Lab Building (# 02-01), 5A Engineering Drive 1, 117411, Singapore
| | - Hongjie Chen
- Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, National University of Singapore, Block E1A-07-03, 1 Engineering Drive 2, 117576, Singapore
| | - Karina Yew-Hoong Gin
- NUS Environmental Research Institute (NERI), National University of Singapore, Singapore, T-Lab Building (# 02-01), 5A Engineering Drive 1, 117411, Singapore; Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, National University of Singapore, Block E1A-07-03, 1 Engineering Drive 2, 117576, Singapore.
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Lorenzo P, Adriana A, Jessica S, Carles B, Marinella F, Marta L, Luis BJ, Pierre S. Antibiotic resistance in urban and hospital wastewaters and their impact on a receiving freshwater ecosystem. CHEMOSPHERE 2018; 206:70-82. [PMID: 29730567 DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2018.04.163] [Citation(s) in RCA: 91] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2018] [Revised: 04/18/2018] [Accepted: 04/27/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
The main objective of this study was to investigate the antibiotic resistance (AR) levels in wastewater (WW) and the impact on the receiving river. Samples were collected once per season over one year in the WW of a hospital, in the raw and treated WW of two wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), as well as upstream and downstream from the release of WWTPs effluents into the Zenne River (Belgium). Culture-dependent methods were used to quantify Escherichia coli and heterotrophic bacteria resistant to amoxicillin, sulfamethoxazole, nalidixic acid and tetracycline. Six antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) were quantified in both particle-attached (PAB) and free-living (FLB) bacteria. Our results showed that WWTPs efficiently removed antibiotic resistant bacteria (ARB) regardless of its AR profile. The ARGs levels were the highest in the hospital WW and were significantly reduced in both WWTPs. However, ARB and ARGs abundances significantly increased into the Zenne River downstream from the WWTPs outfalls. The variation in the relative abundance of ARGs through WW treatment differed depending on the WWTP, fraction, and gene considered. The sul1 and sul2 genes in PAB fraction showed significantly higher relative abundances in the effluent compared to the influent of both WWTPs. This study demonstrated that WWTPs could be hotspots for AR spread with significant impacts on receiving freshwater ecosystems. This was the first comprehensive study investigating at the same time antibiotics occurrence, fecal bacteria indicators, heterotrophic bacterial communities, and ARGs (distinguishing PAB and FLB) to assess AR levels in WW and impacts on the receiving river.
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Affiliation(s)
- Proia Lorenzo
- Ecologie des Systèmes Aquatiques, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Campus de la Plaine, CP 221, Boulevard du Triomphe, 1050 Brussels, Belgium.
| | - Anzil Adriana
- Ecologie des Systèmes Aquatiques, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Campus de la Plaine, CP 221, Boulevard du Triomphe, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
| | - Subirats Jessica
- Catalan Institute for Water Research (ICRA), c/ Emili Grahit 101, 17003 Girona, Spain
| | - Borrego Carles
- Catalan Institute for Water Research (ICRA), c/ Emili Grahit 101, 17003 Girona, Spain
| | - Farrè Marinella
- Water and Soil Quality Research Group, Department of Environmental Chemistry, IDAEA-CSIC, Jordi Girona 18-26, 08034 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Llorca Marta
- Water and Soil Quality Research Group, Department of Environmental Chemistry, IDAEA-CSIC, Jordi Girona 18-26, 08034 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Balcázar Jose Luis
- Catalan Institute for Water Research (ICRA), c/ Emili Grahit 101, 17003 Girona, Spain
| | - Servais Pierre
- Ecologie des Systèmes Aquatiques, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Campus de la Plaine, CP 221, Boulevard du Triomphe, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
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Zhu Y, Wang Y, Zhou S, Jiang X, Ma X, Liu C. Robust performance of a membrane bioreactor for removing antibiotic resistance genes exposed to antibiotics: Role of membrane foulants. WATER RESEARCH 2018; 130:139-150. [PMID: 29216481 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2017.11.067] [Citation(s) in RCA: 72] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/04/2017] [Revised: 10/02/2017] [Accepted: 11/19/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) are an emerging concern in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), as dissemination of ARGs can pose a serious risk to human health. Few studies, however, have quantified ARGs in membrane bioreactors (MBRs), although MBRs have been widely used for both municipal and industrial wastewater treatment. To reveal the capacity of MBRs for removal of ARGs and the response of membrane fouling after antibiotic exposure, five typical ARG subtypes (sulI, sulII, tetC, tetX and ereA) and int1 were quantified affiliated by systematic membrane foulants analysis in a laboratory-scale anoxic/aerobic membrane bioreactor (A/O-MBR). Sulfamethoxazole and tetracycline hydrochloride additions increased ARG abundances by 0.5-1.4 orders of magnitude in the activated sludge, while the ARG removal performance of the membrane module remained stable (or even increased with ARG absolute abundance in several cases), with the abundance of removed ARGs ranging from 0.6 to 5.6 orders of magnitude. Specifically, the distribution of ARGs in membrane foulants accounted for 13%-25% of the total absolute abundance of all tested MBR samples. Indeed, substantial fouling occurred after the antibiotic additions, with the mean concentrations of soluble microbial product (SMP) and extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) increasing by 340% and 220%, respectively, in a membrane fouling cycle; moreover, the contents of EPS and SMP in the membrane foulants were significantly correlated with the ARG absolute abundance of membrane foulants (p < 0.05), among which more significant correlations occurred between both the protein and polysaccharide of foulants than that with humic acid. The dense membrane fouling layer and the membrane itself constituted dual barriers that effectively avoided the leakage of ARGs from the membrane module. Our findings provide fundamental insights into the proliferation and removal of ARGs in MBR systems, and highlight the contribution of membrane fouling to ARG removals in terms of the potential of MBR as an effective strategy to reduce ARG levels in WWTP effluent.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yijing Zhu
- State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resources Reuse, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Siping Road, Shanghai 200092, PR China
| | - Yayi Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resources Reuse, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Siping Road, Shanghai 200092, PR China.
| | - Shuai Zhou
- State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resources Reuse, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Siping Road, Shanghai 200092, PR China
| | - Xuxin Jiang
- State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resources Reuse, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Siping Road, Shanghai 200092, PR China
| | - Xiao Ma
- State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resources Reuse, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Siping Road, Shanghai 200092, PR China
| | - Chao Liu
- Shanghai Youlin Zhuyuan Sewage Investment and Development co. ltd, Shanghai 200125, China
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Barancheshme F, Munir M. Strategies to Combat Antibiotic Resistance in the Wastewater Treatment Plants. Front Microbiol 2018; 8:2603. [PMID: 29387043 PMCID: PMC5776126 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2017.02603] [Citation(s) in RCA: 138] [Impact Index Per Article: 23.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2017] [Accepted: 12/14/2017] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The main goal of this manuscript is to review different treatment strategies and mechanisms for combating the antibiotic resistant bacteria (ARB) and antibiotic resistant genes (ARGs) in the wastewater environment. The high amount of antibiotics is released into the wastewater that may promote selection of ARB and ARGs which find their way into natural environments. Emerging microbial pathogens and increasing antibiotic resistance among them is a global public health issue. The propagation and spread of ARB and ARGs in the environment may result in an increase of antibiotic resistant microbial pathogens which is a worldwide environmental and public health concern. A proper treatment of wastewater is essential before its discharge into rivers, lake, or sewage system to prevent the spread of ARB and ARGs into the environment. This review discusses various treatment options applied for combating the spread of ARB and ARGs in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). It was reported that low-energy anaerobic-aerobic treatment reactors, constructed wetlands, and disinfection processes have shown good removal efficiencies. Nanomaterials and biochar combined with other treatment methods and coagulation process are very recent strategies regarding ARB and ARGs removal and need more investigation and research. Based on current studies a wide-ranging removal efficiency of ARGs can be achieved depending on the type of genes present and treatment processes used, still, there are gaps that need to be further investigated. In order to find solutions to control dissemination of antibiotic resistance in the environment, it is important to (1) study innovative strategies in large scale and over a long time to reach an actual evaluation, (2) develop risk assessment studies to precisely understand occurrence and abundance of ARB/ARGs so that their potential risks to human health can be determined, and (3) consider operating and environmental factors that affect the efficiency of each treatment mechanism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fateme Barancheshme
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC, United States
| | - Mariya Munir
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC, United States
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Riaz L, Mahmood T, Khalid A, Rashid A, Ahmed Siddique MB, Kamal A, Coyne MS. Fluoroquinolones (FQs) in the environment: A review on their abundance, sorption and toxicity in soil. CHEMOSPHERE 2018; 191:704-720. [PMID: 29078193 DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2017.10.092] [Citation(s) in RCA: 140] [Impact Index Per Article: 23.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/14/2017] [Revised: 10/10/2017] [Accepted: 10/15/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
The use of fluoroquinolones (FQs) antibiotics as therapeutic agents and growth promoters is increasing worldwide; however their extensive uses are also resulting in antibiotic resistance among world communities. FQs have also become one of the major contaminants in the waste water bodies, which are not even completely removed during the treatment processes. Furthermore, their abundance in agricultural resources, such as the irrigation water, the bio-solids and the livestock manure can also affect the soil micro-environment. These antibiotics in soil tend to interact in several different ways to affect soil flora and fauna. The current review endeavors to highlight the some critical aspects of FQs prevalence in the environment. The review presents a detailed discussion on the pathways and abundance of FQs in soil. The discussion further spans the issue of sorption and FQs transformation into the soil better understand of their behavior and their toxicity to soil flora and fauna.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luqman Riaz
- Department of Environmental Sciences, Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi 46300, Pakistan.
| | - Tariq Mahmood
- Department of Environmental Sciences, Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi 46300, Pakistan
| | - Azeem Khalid
- Department of Environmental Sciences, Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi 46300, Pakistan
| | - Audil Rashid
- Department of Environmental Sciences, Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi 46300, Pakistan
| | | | - Atif Kamal
- Department of Environmental Sciences, Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi 46300, Pakistan
| | - Mark S Coyne
- Department of Plant & Soil Sciences University of Kentucky, Lexington KY 40546-0091, USA
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48
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Gao H, Zhang L, Lu Z, He C, Li Q, Na G. Complex migration of antibiotic resistance in natural aquatic environments. ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION (BARKING, ESSEX : 1987) 2018; 232:1-9. [PMID: 28986079 DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2017.08.078] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/29/2016] [Revised: 05/16/2017] [Accepted: 08/20/2017] [Indexed: 05/23/2023]
Abstract
Antibiotic resistance is a worsening global concern, and the environmental behaviors and migration patterns of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) have attracted considerable interest. Understanding the long-range transport of ARG pollution is crucial. In this study, we characterized the dynamics of ARG changes after their release into aquatic environments and demonstrated the importance of traditional chemical contaminants in the transmission mechanisms of ARGs. We hypothesized that the main route of ARG proliferation switches from active transmission to passive transmission. This antibiotic-dominated switch is motivated and affected by non-corresponding contaminants. The effect of anthropogenic activities gradually weakens from inland aquatic environments to ocean environments; however, the effect of changes in environmental conditions is enhanced along this gradient. The insights discussed in this study will help to improve the understanding of the distribution and migration of ARG pollution in various aquatic environments, and provide a modern perspective to reveal the effect of corresponding contaminants and non-corresponding contaminants in the process of antibiotic resistance proliferation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hui Gao
- Key Laboratory for Ecological Environment in Coastal Areas (SOA), National Marine Environmental Monitoring Center, Dalian, China
| | - Linxiao Zhang
- Key Laboratory for Ecological Environment in Coastal Areas (SOA), National Marine Environmental Monitoring Center, Dalian, China; School of Biological Engineering, Dalian Polytechnic University, Dalian 116034, China
| | - Zihao Lu
- Key Laboratory for Ecological Environment in Coastal Areas (SOA), National Marine Environmental Monitoring Center, Dalian, China
| | - Chunming He
- Key Laboratory for Ecological Environment in Coastal Areas (SOA), National Marine Environmental Monitoring Center, Dalian, China; School of Marine Science, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai 201306, China
| | - Qianwei Li
- Key Laboratory for Ecological Environment in Coastal Areas (SOA), National Marine Environmental Monitoring Center, Dalian, China; School of Marine Science, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai 201306, China
| | - Guangshui Na
- Key Laboratory for Ecological Environment in Coastal Areas (SOA), National Marine Environmental Monitoring Center, Dalian, China.
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49
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Wang M, Shen W, Yan L, Wang XH, Xu H. Stepwise impact of urban wastewater treatment on the bacterial community structure, antibiotic contents, and prevalence of antimicrobial resistance. ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION (BARKING, ESSEX : 1987) 2017; 231:1578-1585. [PMID: 28967569 DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2017.09.055] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2017] [Revised: 09/14/2017] [Accepted: 09/18/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Bacteria, antibiotics, and antibiotic resistance determinants are key biological pollutants in aquatic systems, which may lead to bacterial infections or prevent the cure of bacterial infections. In this study, we investigated how the wastewater treatment processes in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) affect these pollutants. We found that the addition of oxygen, polyaluminum chloride (PAC), and polyacrylamide (PAM), as well as ultraviolet (UV) disinfection could significantly alter the bacterial communities in the water samples. An overall shift from Gram-negative bacteria to Gram-positive bacteria was observed throughout the wastewater treatment steps, but the overall bacterial biomass was not reduced in the WWTP samples. The antibiotic contents were reduced by the WWTP, but the size of the reduction and the step when antibiotic degradation occurred differed among antibiotics. Ciprofloxacin, sulfamethoxazole and erythromycin could be removed completely by the WWTP, whereas cephalexin could not. The removal of ciprofloxacin, cephalexin, and erythromycin occurred in the anaerobic digester, whereas the removal of sulfamethoxazole occurred after the addition of PAC and PAM, and UV disinfection. Antimicrobial resistance determinants were highly prevalent in all of the samples analyzed, except for those targeting vancomycin and colistin. However, wastewater treatment was ineffective at removing antimicrobial resistance determinants from wastewater. There were strong correlations between intI1, floR, sul1, and ermB, thereby suggesting the importance of integrons for the spread of these antimicrobial resistance genes. In general, this study comprised a stepwise analysis of the impact of WWTPs on three biological pollutants: bacteria, antibiotics, and antimicrobial resistance determinants, where our results suggest that the design of WWTPs needs to be improved to address the threats due to these pollutants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mingyu Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, School of Life Sciences, Shandong University, Jinan 250100, China
| | - Weitao Shen
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, School of Life Sciences, Shandong University, Jinan 250100, China
| | - Lei Yan
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, School of Life Sciences, Shandong University, Jinan 250100, China
| | - Xin-Hua Wang
- Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Water Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan 250100, China
| | - Hai Xu
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, School of Life Sciences, Shandong University, Jinan 250100, China.
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50
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Sun W, Qian X, Gu J, Wang XJ, Zhang L, Guo AY. Mechanisms and effects of arsanilic acid on antibiotic resistance genes and microbial communities during pig manure digestion. BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY 2017; 234:217-223. [PMID: 28319770 DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2017.03.025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/07/2017] [Revised: 02/26/2017] [Accepted: 03/05/2017] [Indexed: 05/28/2023]
Abstract
High concentrations of residual arsanilic acid occur in pig manure due to its use in feed to promote growth and control diseases. This study compared the effects of arsanilic acid at three concentrations (0, 325, and 650mg/kg dry pig manure) on the abundance of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and the microbial community during anaerobic digestion. Addition of 650mg/kg arsanilic acid enhanced the absolute abundances of tetC, sul2, ermB, and gyrA more than twofold in the digestion product. Redundancy analysis indicated that the change in the microbial community structure was the main driver of variation in the ARGs profile. The As resistance gene arsC co-occurred with four ARGs and intI1, possibly causing the increase in ARGs under pressure by arsanilic acid. High arsanilic acid concentrations can increase the risk of ARGs occurring in anaerobic digestion products. The amount of arsanilic acid used as a feed additive should be controlled.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wei Sun
- College of Natural Resources and Environment, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China
| | - Xun Qian
- College of Natural Resources and Environment, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China
| | - Jie Gu
- College of Natural Resources and Environment, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China; Research Center of Recycle Agricultural Engineering and Technology of Shaanxi Province, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China.
| | - Xiao-Juan Wang
- College of Natural Resources and Environment, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China
| | - Li Zhang
- College of Natural Resources and Environment, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China
| | - Ai-Yun Guo
- College of Natural Resources and Environment, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China
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