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Galarde-López M, Velazquez-Meza ME, Godoy-Lozano EE, Carrillo-Quiroz BA, Cornejo-Juárez P, Sassoé-González A, Ponce-de-León A, Saturno-Hernández P, Alpuche-Aranda CM. Presence and Persistence of ESKAPEE Bacteria before and after Hospital Wastewater Treatment. Microorganisms 2024; 12:1231. [PMID: 38930614 PMCID: PMC11206169 DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms12061231] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/22/2024] [Revised: 06/02/2024] [Accepted: 06/08/2024] [Indexed: 06/28/2024] Open
Abstract
The metagenomic surveillance of antimicrobial resistance in wastewater has been suggested as a methodological tool to characterize the distribution, status, and trends of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. In this study, a cross-sectional collection of samples of hospital-associated raw and treated wastewater were obtained from February to March 2020. Shotgun metagenomic sequencing and bioinformatic analysis were performed to characterize bacterial abundance and antimicrobial resistance gene analysis. The main bacterial phyla found in all the samples were as follows: Proteobacteria, Bacteroides, Firmicutes, and Actinobacteria. At the species level, ESKAPEE bacteria such as E. coli relative abundance decreased between raw and treated wastewater, but S. aureus, A. baumannii, and P. aeruginosa increased, as did the persistence of K. pneumoniae in both raw and treated wastewater. A total of 172 different ARGs were detected; blaOXA, blaVEB, blaKPC, blaGES, mphE, mef, erm, msrE, AAC(6'), ant(3″), aadS, lnu, PBP-2, dfrA, vanA-G, tet, and sul were found at the highest abundance and persistence. This study demonstrates the ability of ESKAPEE bacteria to survive tertiary treatment processes of hospital wastewater, as well as the persistence of clinically important antimicrobial resistance genes that are spreading in the environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miguel Galarde-López
- Centro de Investigación Sobre Enfermedades Infecciosas, Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública, Morelos 62100, Mexico; (M.G.-L.); (E.E.G.-L.); (B.A.C.-Q.)
| | - Maria Elena Velazquez-Meza
- Centro de Investigación Sobre Enfermedades Infecciosas, Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública, Morelos 62100, Mexico; (M.G.-L.); (E.E.G.-L.); (B.A.C.-Q.)
| | - Elizabeth Ernestina Godoy-Lozano
- Centro de Investigación Sobre Enfermedades Infecciosas, Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública, Morelos 62100, Mexico; (M.G.-L.); (E.E.G.-L.); (B.A.C.-Q.)
| | - Berta Alicia Carrillo-Quiroz
- Centro de Investigación Sobre Enfermedades Infecciosas, Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública, Morelos 62100, Mexico; (M.G.-L.); (E.E.G.-L.); (B.A.C.-Q.)
| | - Patricia Cornejo-Juárez
- Departamento de Infectología, Instituto Nacional de Cancerología, Tlalpan, Mexico City 14080, Mexico;
| | - Alejandro Sassoé-González
- Unidad de Inteligencia Epidemiológica, Hospital Regional de Alta Especialidad de Ixtapaluca, Ixtapaluca 56530, Mexico;
| | - Alfredo Ponce-de-León
- Laboratorio Nacional de Máxima Seguridad para el Estudio de Tuberculosis y Enfermedades Emergentes, Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Médicas y Nutrición “Salvador Zubirán”, Mexico City 14080, Mexico;
| | - Pedro Saturno-Hernández
- Centro de Investigación en Evaluación de Encuestas, Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública, Morelos 62100, Mexico;
| | - Celia Mercedes Alpuche-Aranda
- Centro de Investigación Sobre Enfermedades Infecciosas, Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública, Morelos 62100, Mexico; (M.G.-L.); (E.E.G.-L.); (B.A.C.-Q.)
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Goswami A, Adkins-Jablonsky SJ, Barreto Filho MM, Shilling MD, Dawson A, Heiser S, O’Connor A, Walker M, Roberts Q, Morris JJ. Heavy Metal Pollution Impacts Soil Bacterial Community Structure and Antimicrobial Resistance at the Birmingham 35th Avenue Superfund Site. Microbiol Spectr 2023; 11:e0242622. [PMID: 36951567 PMCID: PMC10101053 DOI: 10.1128/spectrum.02426-22] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/11/2022] [Accepted: 02/23/2023] [Indexed: 03/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Heavy metals (HMs) are known to modify bacterial communities both in the laboratory and in situ. Consequently, soils in HM-contaminated sites such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Superfund sites are predicted to have altered ecosystem functioning, with potential ramifications for the health of organisms, including humans, that live nearby. Further, several studies have shown that heavy metal-resistant (HMR) bacteria often also display antimicrobial resistance (AMR), and therefore HM-contaminated soils could potentially act as reservoirs that could disseminate AMR genes into human-associated pathogenic bacteria. To explore this possibility, topsoil samples were collected from six public locations in the zip code 35207 (the home of the North Birmingham 35th Avenue Superfund Site) and in six public areas in the neighboring zip code, 35214. 35027 soils had significantly elevated levels of the HMs As, Mn, Pb, and Zn, and sequencing of the V4 region of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene revealed that elevated HM concentrations correlated with reduced microbial diversity and altered community structure. While there was no difference between zip codes in the proportion of total culturable HMR bacteria, bacterial isolates with HMR almost always also exhibited AMR. Metagenomes inferred using PICRUSt2 also predicted significantly higher mean relative frequencies in 35207 for several AMR genes related to both specific and broad-spectrum AMR phenotypes. Together, these results support the hypothesis that chronic HM pollution alters the soil bacterial community structure in ecologically meaningful ways and may also select for bacteria with increased potential to contribute to AMR in human disease. IMPORTANCE Heavy metals cross-select for antimicrobial resistance in laboratory experiments, but few studies have documented this effect in polluted soils. Moreover, despite decades of awareness of heavy metal contamination at the EPA Superfund site in North Birmingham, Alabama, this is the first analysis of the impact of this pollution on the soil microbiome. Specifically, this work advances the understanding of the relationship between heavy metals, microbial diversity, and patterns of antibiotic resistance in North Birmingham soils. Our results suggest that polluted soils carry a risk of increased exposure to antibiotic-resistant infections in addition to the direct health consequences of heavy metals. Our work provides important information relevant to both political and scientific efforts to advance environmental justice for the communities that call Superfund neighborhoods home.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anuradha Goswami
- Department of Biology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, USA
| | - Sarah J. Adkins-Jablonsky
- Department of Biology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, USA
- Alabama College of Osteopathic Medicine, Dothan, Alabama, USA
| | | | - Michelle D. Shilling
- Department of Biology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, USA
| | - Alex Dawson
- Department of Biology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, USA
| | - Sabrina Heiser
- Department of Biology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, USA
| | - Aisha O’Connor
- Department of Biology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, USA
| | - Melissa Walker
- Department of Biology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, USA
| | - Qutia Roberts
- Department of Biology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, USA
| | - J. Jeffrey Morris
- Department of Biology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, USA
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3
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Perez MF, Saona LA, Farías ME, Poehlein A, Meinhardt F, Daniel R, Dib JR. Assessment of the plasmidome of an extremophilic microbial community from the Diamante Lake, Argentina. Sci Rep 2021; 11:21459. [PMID: 34728656 PMCID: PMC8563766 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-00753-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/21/2021] [Accepted: 10/15/2021] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Diamante Lake located at 4589 m.a.s.l. in the Andean Puna constitutes an extreme environment. It is exposed to multiple extreme conditions such as an unusually high concentration of arsenic (over 300 mg L-1) and low oxygen pressure. Microorganisms thriving in the lake display specific genotypes that facilitate survival, which include at least a multitude of plasmid-encoded resistance traits. Hence, the genetic information provided by the plasmids essentially contributes to understand adaptation to different stressors. Though plasmids from cultivable organisms have already been analyzed to the sequence level, the impact of the entire plasmid-borne genetic information on such microbial ecosystem is not known. This study aims at assessing the plasmidome from Diamante Lake, which facilitates the identification of potential hosts and prediction of gene functions as well as the ecological impact of mobile genetic elements. The deep-sequencing analysis revealed a large fraction of previously unknown DNA sequences of which the majority encoded putative proteins of unknown function. Remarkably, functions related to the oxidative stress response, DNA repair, as well as arsenic- and antibiotic resistances were annotated. Additionally, all necessary capacities related to plasmid replication, mobilization and maintenance were detected. Sequences characteristic for megaplasmids and other already known plasmid-associated genes were identified as well. The study highlights the potential of the deep-sequencing approach specifically targeting plasmid populations as it allows to evaluate the ecological impact of plasmids from (cultivable and non-cultivable) microorganisms, thereby contributing to the understanding of the distribution of resistance factors within an extremophilic microbial community.
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Affiliation(s)
- María Florencia Perez
- grid.423606.50000 0001 1945 2152Planta Piloto de Procesos Industriales Microbiológicos, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, San Miguel de Tucumán, Tucumán Argentina
| | - Luis Alberto Saona
- grid.423606.50000 0001 1945 2152Planta Piloto de Procesos Industriales Microbiológicos, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, San Miguel de Tucumán, Tucumán Argentina
| | - María Eugenia Farías
- grid.423606.50000 0001 1945 2152Planta Piloto de Procesos Industriales Microbiológicos, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, San Miguel de Tucumán, Tucumán Argentina
| | - Anja Poehlein
- grid.7450.60000 0001 2364 4210Genomic and Applied Microbiology and Göttingen Genomics Laboratory, Institute of Microbiology and Genetics, Georg-August University of Göttingen, Grisebachstr. 8, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
| | - Friedhelm Meinhardt
- grid.5949.10000 0001 2172 9288Institut für Molekulare Mikrobiologie und Biotechnologie, Westfälische Wilhelms Universität Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Rolf Daniel
- grid.7450.60000 0001 2364 4210Genomic and Applied Microbiology and Göttingen Genomics Laboratory, Institute of Microbiology and Genetics, Georg-August University of Göttingen, Grisebachstr. 8, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
| | - Julián Rafael Dib
- grid.423606.50000 0001 1945 2152Planta Piloto de Procesos Industriales Microbiológicos, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, San Miguel de Tucumán, Tucumán Argentina ,grid.108162.c0000000121496664Instituto de Microbiología, Facultad de Bioquímica, Química y Farmacia, Universidad Nacional de Tucumán, San Miguel de Tucumán, Tucumán Argentina
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4
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Law A, Solano O, Brown CJ, Hunter SS, Fagnan M, Top EM, Stalder T. Biosolids as a Source of Antibiotic Resistance Plasmids for Commensal and Pathogenic Bacteria. Front Microbiol 2021; 12:606409. [PMID: 33967971 PMCID: PMC8098119 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2021.606409] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2020] [Accepted: 03/09/2021] [Indexed: 12/05/2022] Open
Abstract
Antibiotic resistance (AR) is a threat to modern medicine, and plasmids are driving the global spread of AR by horizontal gene transfer across microbiomes and environments. Determining the mobile resistome responsible for this spread of AR among environments is essential in our efforts to attenuate the current crisis. Biosolids are a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) byproduct used globally as fertilizer in agriculture. Here, we investigated the mobile resistome of biosolids that are used as fertilizer. This was done by capturing resistance plasmids that can transfer to human pathogens and commensal bacteria. We used a higher-throughput version of the exogenous plasmid isolation approach by mixing several ESKAPE pathogens and a commensal Escherichia coli with biosolids and screening for newly acquired resistance to about 10 antibiotics in these strains. Six unique resistance plasmids transferred to Salmonella typhimurium, Klebsiella aerogenes, and E. coli. All the plasmids were self-transferable and carried 3-6 antibiotic resistance genes (ARG) conferring resistance to 2-4 antibiotic classes. These plasmids-borne resistance genes were further embedded in genetic elements promoting intracellular recombination (i.e., transposons or class 1 integrons). The plasmids belonged to the broad-host-range plasmid (BHR) groups IncP-1 or PromA. Several of them were persistent in their new hosts when grown in the absence of antibiotics, suggesting that the newly acquired drug resistance traits would be sustained over time. This study highlights the role of BHRs in the spread of ARG between environmental bacteria and human pathogens and commensals, where they may persist. The work further emphasizes biosolids as potential vehicles of highly mobile plasmid-borne antibiotic resistance genes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aaron Law
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID, United States
| | - Olubunmi Solano
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID, United States
- Department of Biological Sciences, Columbia University, New York, NY, United States
| | - Celeste J. Brown
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID, United States
- Institute for Bioinformatics and Evolutionary Studies, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID, United States
| | - Samuel S. Hunter
- Institute for Bioinformatics and Evolutionary Studies, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID, United States
- UC-Davis Genome Center, Davis, CA, United States
| | - Matt Fagnan
- Institute for Bioinformatics and Evolutionary Studies, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID, United States
| | - Eva M. Top
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID, United States
- Institute for Bioinformatics and Evolutionary Studies, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID, United States
| | - Thibault Stalder
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID, United States
- Institute for Bioinformatics and Evolutionary Studies, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID, United States
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5
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Garner E, Davis BC, Milligan E, Blair MF, Keenum I, Maile-Moskowitz A, Pan J, Gnegy M, Liguori K, Gupta S, Prussin AJ, Marr LC, Heath LS, Vikesland PJ, Zhang L, Pruden A. Next generation sequencing approaches to evaluate water and wastewater quality. WATER RESEARCH 2021; 194:116907. [PMID: 33610927 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2021.116907] [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: 10/26/2020] [Revised: 01/15/2021] [Accepted: 02/03/2021] [Indexed: 05/24/2023]
Abstract
The emergence of next generation sequencing (NGS) is revolutionizing the potential to address complex microbiological challenges in the water industry. NGS technologies can provide holistic insight into microbial communities and their functional capacities in water and wastewater systems, thus eliminating the need to develop a new assay for each target organism or gene. However, several barriers have hampered wide-scale adoption of NGS by the water industry, including cost, need for specialized expertise and equipment, challenges with data analysis and interpretation, lack of standardized methods, and the rapid pace of development of new technologies. In this critical review, we provide an overview of the current state of the science of NGS technologies as they apply to water, wastewater, and recycled water. In addition, a systematic literature review was conducted in which we identified over 600 peer-reviewed journal articles on this topic and summarized their contributions to six key areas relevant to the water and wastewater fields: taxonomic classification and pathogen detection, functional and catabolic gene characterization, antimicrobial resistance (AMR) profiling, bacterial toxicity characterization, Cyanobacteria and harmful algal bloom identification, and virus characterization. For each application, we have presented key trends, noteworthy advancements, and proposed future directions. Finally, key needs to advance NGS technologies for broader application in water and wastewater fields are assessed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emily Garner
- Wadsworth Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, West Virginia University, 1306 Evansdale Drive, Morgantown, WV 26505, United States.
| | - Benjamin C Davis
- Charles E. Via, Jr. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Virginia Tech, 1145 Perry Street, Blacksburg, VA 24061, United States
| | - Erin Milligan
- Charles E. Via, Jr. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Virginia Tech, 1145 Perry Street, Blacksburg, VA 24061, United States
| | - Matthew Forrest Blair
- Charles E. Via, Jr. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Virginia Tech, 1145 Perry Street, Blacksburg, VA 24061, United States
| | - Ishi Keenum
- Charles E. Via, Jr. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Virginia Tech, 1145 Perry Street, Blacksburg, VA 24061, United States
| | - Ayella Maile-Moskowitz
- Charles E. Via, Jr. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Virginia Tech, 1145 Perry Street, Blacksburg, VA 24061, United States
| | - Jin Pan
- Charles E. Via, Jr. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Virginia Tech, 1145 Perry Street, Blacksburg, VA 24061, United States
| | - Mariah Gnegy
- Charles E. Via, Jr. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Virginia Tech, 1145 Perry Street, Blacksburg, VA 24061, United States
| | - Krista Liguori
- Charles E. Via, Jr. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Virginia Tech, 1145 Perry Street, Blacksburg, VA 24061, United States
| | - Suraj Gupta
- The Interdisciplinary PhD Program in Genetics, Bioinformatics, and Computational Biology, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, United States
| | - Aaron J Prussin
- Charles E. Via, Jr. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Virginia Tech, 1145 Perry Street, Blacksburg, VA 24061, United States
| | - Linsey C Marr
- Charles E. Via, Jr. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Virginia Tech, 1145 Perry Street, Blacksburg, VA 24061, United States
| | - Lenwood S Heath
- Department of Computer Science, Virginia Tech, 225 Stranger Street, Blacksburg, VA 24061, United States
| | - Peter J Vikesland
- Charles E. Via, Jr. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Virginia Tech, 1145 Perry Street, Blacksburg, VA 24061, United States
| | - Liqing Zhang
- Department of Computer Science, Virginia Tech, 225 Stranger Street, Blacksburg, VA 24061, United States
| | - Amy Pruden
- Charles E. Via, Jr. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Virginia Tech, 1145 Perry Street, Blacksburg, VA 24061, United States.
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Priya P, Aneesh B, Harikrishnan K. Genomics as a potential tool to unravel the rhizosphere microbiome interactions on plant health. J Microbiol Methods 2021; 185:106215. [PMID: 33839214 DOI: 10.1016/j.mimet.2021.106215] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/24/2020] [Revised: 04/05/2021] [Accepted: 04/06/2021] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Intense agricultural practices to meet rising food demands have caused ecosystem perturbations. For sustainable crop production, biological agents are gaining attention, but exploring their functional potential on a multi-layered complex ecosystem like the rhizosphere is challenging. This review explains the significance of genomics as a culture-independent molecular tool to understand the diversity and functional significance of the rhizosphere microbiome for sustainable agriculture. It discusses the recent significant studies in the rhizosphere environment carried out using evolving techniques like metagenomics, metatranscriptomics, and metaproteomics, their challenges, constraints infield application, and prospective solutions. The recent advances in techniques such as nanotechnology for the development of bioformulations and visualization techniques contemplating environmental safety were also discussed. The need for development of metagenomic data sets of regionally important crops, their plant microbial interactions and agricultural practices for narrowing down significant data from huge databases have been suggested. The role of taxonomical and functional diversity of soil microbiota in understanding soil suppression and part played by the microbial metabolites in the process have been analyzed and discussed in the context of 'omics' approach. 'Omics' studies have revealed important information about microbial diversity, their responses to various biotic and abiotic stimuli, and the physiology of disease suppression. This can be translated to crop sustainability and combinational approaches with advancing visualization and analysis methodologies fix the existing knowledge gap to a huge extend. With improved data processing and standardization of the methods, details of plant-microbe interactions can be successfully decoded to develop sustainable agricultural practices.
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Affiliation(s)
- P Priya
- Environmental Biology Lab, Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India.
| | - B Aneesh
- Department of Marine Biology, Microbiology and Biochemistry, School of Marine Sciences Cochin University of Science and Technology, Cochin, Kerala, India.
| | - K Harikrishnan
- Environmental Biology Lab, Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India.
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7
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Rios Miguel AB, Jetten MS, Welte CU. The role of mobile genetic elements in organic micropollutant degradation during biological wastewater treatment. WATER RESEARCH X 2020; 9:100065. [PMID: 32984801 PMCID: PMC7494797 DOI: 10.1016/j.wroa.2020.100065] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2020] [Revised: 08/19/2020] [Accepted: 08/28/2020] [Indexed: 05/24/2023]
Abstract
Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are crucial for producing clean effluents from polluting sources such as hospitals, industries, and municipalities. In recent decades, many new organic compounds have ended up in surface waters in concentrations that, while very low, cause (chronic) toxicity to countless organisms. These organic micropollutants (OMPs) are usually quite recalcitrant and not sufficiently removed during wastewater treatment. Microbial degradation plays a pivotal role in OMP conversion. Microorganisms can adapt their metabolism to the use of novel molecules via mutations and rearrangements of existing genes in new clusters. Many catabolic genes have been found adjacent to mobile genetic elements (MGEs), which provide a stable scaffold to host new catabolic pathways and spread these genes in the microbial community. These mobile systems could be engineered to enhance OMP degradation in WWTPs, and this review aims to summarize and better understand the role that MGEs might play in the degradation and wastewater treatment process. Available data about the presence of catabolic MGEs in WWTPs are reviewed, and current methods used to identify and measure MGEs in environmental samples are critically evaluated. Finally, examples of how these MGEs could be used to improve micropollutant degradation in WWTPs are outlined. In the near future, advances in the use of MGEs will hopefully enable us to apply selective augmentation strategies to improve OMP conversion in WWTPs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ana B. Rios Miguel
- Department of Microbiology, Institute for Water and Wetland Research, Radboud University, Heyendaalseweg 135, 6525, AJ Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Mike S.M. Jetten
- Department of Microbiology, Institute for Water and Wetland Research, Radboud University, Heyendaalseweg 135, 6525, AJ Nijmegen, the Netherlands
- Soehngen Institute of Anaerobic Microbiology, Radboud University, Heyendaalseweg 135, 6525, AJ Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Cornelia U. Welte
- Department of Microbiology, Institute for Water and Wetland Research, Radboud University, Heyendaalseweg 135, 6525, AJ Nijmegen, the Netherlands
- Soehngen Institute of Anaerobic Microbiology, Radboud University, Heyendaalseweg 135, 6525, AJ Nijmegen, the Netherlands
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8
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Jebri S, Rahmani F, Hmaied F. Bacteriophages as antibiotic resistance genes carriers in agro-food systems. J Appl Microbiol 2020; 130:688-698. [PMID: 32916015 DOI: 10.1111/jam.14851] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2020] [Accepted: 09/04/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) are a global health concern. Antibiotic resistance occurs naturally, but misuse of antibiotics in humans and animals is accelerating the process of antibiotic resistance emergency, which has been aggravated by exposure to molecules of antibiotics present in clinical and agricultural settings and the engagement of many countries in water reuse especially in Middle East and North Africa region. Bacteriophages have the potential to be significant actors in ARGs transmission through the transduction process. These viruses have been detected along with ARGs in non impacted habitats and in anthropogenic impacted environments like wastewater, reclaimed water and manure amended soil as well as minimally processed food and ready to eat vegetables. The ubiquity of bacteriophages and their persistence in the environment raises concern about their involvement in ARGs transmission among different biomes and the generation of pathogenic-resistant bacteria that pose a great threat to human health. The aim of this review is to give an overview of the potential role of bacteriophages in the dissemination and the transfer of ARGs to pathogens in food production and processing and the consequent contribution to antibiotic resistance transmission through faecal oral route carrying ARGs to our dishes.
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Affiliation(s)
- S Jebri
- Laboratoire de Biotechnologies et Technologie Nucléaire (LR16CNSTN01), Centre National des Sciences et Technologie Nucléaire, Sidi Thabet, Tunisia
| | - F Rahmani
- Laboratoire de Biotechnologies et Technologie Nucléaire (LR16CNSTN01), Centre National des Sciences et Technologie Nucléaire, Sidi Thabet, Tunisia
| | - F Hmaied
- Laboratoire de Biotechnologies et Technologie Nucléaire (LR16CNSTN01), Centre National des Sciences et Technologie Nucléaire, Sidi Thabet, Tunisia
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9
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Piotrowska M, Dziewit L, Ostrowski R, Chmielowska C, Popowska M. Molecular Characterization and Comparative Genomics of IncQ-3 Plasmids Conferring Resistance to Various Antibiotics Isolated from a Wastewater Treatment Plant in Warsaw (Poland). Antibiotics (Basel) 2020; 9:antibiotics9090613. [PMID: 32957637 PMCID: PMC7557826 DOI: 10.3390/antibiotics9090613] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2020] [Revised: 09/15/2020] [Accepted: 09/16/2020] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
As small, mobilizable replicons with a broad host range, IncQ plasmids are widely distributed among clinical and environmental bacteria. They carry antibiotic resistance genes, and it has been shown that they confer resistance to β-lactams, fluoroquinolones, aminoglycosides, trimethoprim, sulphonamides, and tetracycline. The previously proposed classification system divides the plasmid group into four subgroups, i.e., IncQ-1, IncQ-2, IncQ-3, and IncQ-4. The last two subgroups have been poorly described so far. The aim of this study was to analyze five newly identified IncQ-3 plasmids isolated from a wastewater treatment plant in Poland and to compare them with all known plasmids belonging to the IncQ-3 subgroup whose sequences were retrieved from the NCBI database. The complete nucleotide sequences of the novel plasmids were annotated and bioinformatic analyses were performed, including identification of core genes and auxiliary genetic load. Furthermore, functional experiments testing plasmid mobility were carried out. Phylogenetic analysis based on three core genes (repA, mobA/repB, and mobC) revealed the presence of three main clusters of IncQ-3 replicons. Apart from having a highly conserved core, the analyzed IncQ-3 plasmids were vectors of antibiotic resistance genes, including (I) the qnrS2 gene that encodes fluoroquinolone resistance and (II) β-lactam, trimethoprim, and aminoglycoside resistance genes within integron cassettes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marta Piotrowska
- Department of Bacterial Physiology, Institute of Microbiology, Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw, 02-096 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Lukasz Dziewit
- Department of Environmental Microbiology and Biotechnology, Institute of Microbiology, Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw, 02-096 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Rafał Ostrowski
- Department of Bacterial Physiology, Institute of Microbiology, Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw, 02-096 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Cora Chmielowska
- Department of Bacterial Genetics, Institute of Microbiology, Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw, 02-096 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Magdalena Popowska
- Department of Bacterial Physiology, Institute of Microbiology, Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw, 02-096 Warsaw, Poland
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10
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Widespread transfer of mobile antibiotic resistance genes within individual gut microbiomes revealed through bacterial Hi-C. Nat Commun 2020; 11:4379. [PMID: 32873785 PMCID: PMC7463002 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-18164-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 89] [Impact Index Per Article: 22.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2020] [Accepted: 08/06/2020] [Indexed: 01/13/2023] Open
Abstract
The gut microbiome harbors a ‘silent reservoir’ of antibiotic resistance (AR) genes that is thought to contribute to the emergence of multidrug-resistant pathogens through horizontal gene transfer (HGT). To counteract the spread of AR, it is paramount to know which organisms harbor mobile AR genes and which organisms engage in HGT. Despite methods that characterize the overall abundance of AR genes in the gut, technological limitations of short-read sequencing have precluded linking bacterial taxa to specific mobile genetic elements (MGEs) encoding AR genes. Here, we apply Hi-C, a high-throughput, culture-independent method, to surveil the bacterial carriage of MGEs. We compare two healthy individuals with seven neutropenic patients undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, who receive multiple courses of antibiotics, and are acutely vulnerable to the threat of multidrug-resistant infections. We find distinct networks of HGT across individuals, though AR and mobile genes are associated with more diverse taxa within the neutropenic patients than the healthy subjects. Our data further suggest that HGT occurs frequently over a several-week period in both cohorts. Whereas most efforts to understand the spread of AR genes have focused on pathogenic species, our findings shed light on the role of the human gut microbiome in this process. Linking antibiotic resistance (AR) in the gut microbiome with their bacterial hosts remains challenging. Here, the authors apply bacterial Hi-C to map mobile genetic elements in metagenomes, and illustrate that genes are present in more diverse taxa in neutropenic patients than healthy subjects.
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Perez MF, Kurth D, Farías ME, Soria MN, Castillo Villamizar GA, Poehlein A, Daniel R, Dib JR. First Report on the Plasmidome From a High-Altitude Lake of the Andean Puna. Front Microbiol 2020; 11:1343. [PMID: 32655530 PMCID: PMC7324554 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2020.01343] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2020] [Accepted: 05/26/2020] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Mobile genetic elements, including plasmids, drive the evolution of prokaryotic genomes through the horizontal transfer of genes allowing genetic exchange between bacteria. Moreover, plasmids carry accessory genes, which encode functions that may offer an advantage to the host. Thus, it is expected that in a certain ecological niche, plasmids are enriched in accessory functions, which are important for their hosts to proliferate in that niche. Puquio de Campo Naranja is a high-altitude lake from the Andean Puna exposed to multiple extreme conditions, including high UV radiation, alkalinity, high concentrations of arsenic, heavy metals, dissolved salts, high thermal amplitude and low O2 pressure. Microorganisms living in this lake need to develop efficient mechanisms and strategies to cope under these conditions. The aim of this study was to characterize the plasmidome of microbialites from Puquio de Campo Naranja, and identify potential hosts and encoded functions using a deep-sequencing approach. The potential ecological impact of the plasmidome, including plasmids from cultivable and non-cultivable microorganisms, is described for the first time in a lake representing an extreme environment of the Puna. This study showed that the recovered genetic information for the plasmidome was novel in comparison to the metagenome derived from the same environment. The study of the total plasmid population allowed the identification of genetic features typically encoded by plasmids, such as resistance and virulence factors. The resistance genes comprised resistances to heavy metals, antibiotics and stress factors. These results highlight the key role of plasmids for their hosts and impact of extrachromosomal elements to thrive in a certain ecological niche.
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Affiliation(s)
- María Florencia Perez
- Planta Piloto de Procesos Industriales Microbiológicos, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, San Miguel de Tucumán, Argentina
| | - Daniel Kurth
- Planta Piloto de Procesos Industriales Microbiológicos, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, San Miguel de Tucumán, Argentina
| | - María Eugenia Farías
- Planta Piloto de Procesos Industriales Microbiológicos, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, San Miguel de Tucumán, Argentina
| | - Mariana Noelia Soria
- Planta Piloto de Procesos Industriales Microbiológicos, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, San Miguel de Tucumán, Argentina
| | - Genis Andrés Castillo Villamizar
- Genomic and Applied Microbiology & Göttingen Genomics Laboratory, Institute of Microbiology and Genetics, Georg-August University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany.,Línea Tecnológica Biocorrosión, Corporación para la Investigación de la Corrosión C.I.C., Piedecuesta, Colombia
| | - Anja Poehlein
- Genomic and Applied Microbiology & Göttingen Genomics Laboratory, Institute of Microbiology and Genetics, Georg-August University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Rolf Daniel
- Genomic and Applied Microbiology & Göttingen Genomics Laboratory, Institute of Microbiology and Genetics, Georg-August University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Julián Rafael Dib
- Planta Piloto de Procesos Industriales Microbiológicos, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, San Miguel de Tucumán, Argentina.,Facultad de Bioquímica, Química y Farmacia, Instituto de Microbiología, Universidad Nacional de Tucumán, San Miguel de Tucumán, Argentina
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Dissemination prevention of antibiotic resistant and facultative pathogenic bacteria by ultrafiltration and ozone treatment at an urban wastewater treatment plant. Sci Rep 2019; 9:12843. [PMID: 31492933 PMCID: PMC6731226 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-49263-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/13/2019] [Accepted: 08/22/2019] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
Conventional wastewater treatment is not sufficient for the removal of hygienically relevant bacteria and achieves only limited reductions. This study focuses on the reduction efficiencies of two semi-industrial ultrafiltration units operating at a large scale municipal wastewater treatment plant. In total, 7 clinically relevant antibiotic resistance genes, together with 3 taxonomic gene markers targeting specific facultative pathogenic bacteria were analysed via qPCR analyses before and after advanced treatment. In parallel with membrane technologies, an ozone treatment (1 g ozone/g DOC) was performed for comparison of the different reduction efficiencies. Both ultrafiltration units showed increased reduction efficiencies for facultative pathogenic bacteria and antibiotic resistance genes of up to 6 log units, resulting mostly in a strong reduction of the bacterial targets. In comparison, the ozone treatment showed some reduction efficiency, but was less effective compared with ultrafiltration due to low ozone dosages frequently used for micro-pollutant removal at municipal wastewater treatment plants. Additionally, metagenome analyses demonstrated the accumulation of facultative pathogenic bacteria, antibiotic resistance genes, virulence factor genes, and metabolic gene targets in the back flush retentate of the membranes, which opens further questions about retentate fluid material handling at urban wastewater treatment plants.
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Rivas-Marín E, Devos DP. The Paradigms They Are a-Changin': past, present and future of PVC bacteria research. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek 2017; 111:785-799. [PMID: 29058138 PMCID: PMC5945725 DOI: 10.1007/s10482-017-0962-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2017] [Accepted: 10/10/2017] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
These are exciting times for PVC researchers! The PVC superphylum is composed of the bacterial phyla Planctomycetes, Verrucomicrobia, Chlamydiae (those three founders giving it its name), Lentisphaerae and Kirimatiellaeota as well as some uncultured candidate phyla, such as the Candidatus Omnitrophica (previously known as OP3). Despite early debates, most of the disagreements that surround this group of bacteria have been recently resolved. In this article, we review the history of the study of PVC bacteria, with a particular focus on the misinterpretations that emerged early in the field and their resolution. We begin with a historical perspective that describes the relevant facts of PVC research from the early times when they were not yet termed PVC. Those were controversial times and we refer to them as the “discovery age” of the field. We continue by describing new discoveries due to novel techniques and data that combined with the reinterpretations of old ones have contributed to solve most of the discordances and we refer to these times as the “illumination age” of PVC research. We follow by arguing that we are just entering the “golden age” of PVC research and that the future of this growing community is looking bright. We finish by suggesting a few of the directions that PVC researches might take in the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elena Rivas-Marín
- Centro Andaluz de Biología del Desarrollo (CABD)-CSIC, University Pablo de Olavide, Carretera Utrera, km 1, 41013, Seville, Spain
| | - Damien P Devos
- Centro Andaluz de Biología del Desarrollo (CABD)-CSIC, University Pablo de Olavide, Carretera Utrera, km 1, 41013, Seville, Spain.
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Delforno TP, Lacerda Júnior GV, Noronha MF, Sakamoto IK, Varesche MBA, Oliveira VM. Microbial diversity of a full-scale UASB reactor applied to poultry slaughterhouse wastewater treatment: integration of 16S rRNA gene amplicon and shotgun metagenomic sequencing. Microbiologyopen 2017; 6. [PMID: 28229558 PMCID: PMC5458456 DOI: 10.1002/mbo3.443] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2016] [Revised: 11/28/2016] [Accepted: 12/07/2016] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
The 16S rRNA gene amplicon and whole-genome shotgun metagenomic (WGSM) sequencing approaches were used to investigate wide-spectrum profiles of microbial composition and metabolic diversity from a full-scale UASB reactor applied to poultry slaughterhouse wastewater treatment. The data were generated by using MiSeq 2 × 250 bp and HiSeq 2 × 150 bp Illumina sequencing platforms for 16S amplicon and WGSM sequencing, respectively. Each approach revealed a distinct microbial community profile, with Pseudomonas and Psychrobacter as predominant genus for the WGSM dataset and Clostridium and Methanosaeta for the 16S rRNA gene amplicon dataset. The virome characterization revealed the presence of two viral families with Bacteria and Archaea as host, Myoviridae, and Siphoviridae. A wide functional diversity was found with predominance of genes involved in the metabolism of acetone, butanol, and ethanol synthesis; and one-carbon metabolism (e.g., methanogenesis). Genes related to the acetotrophic methanogenesis pathways were more abundant than methylotrophic and hydrogenotrophic, corroborating the taxonomic results that showed the prevalence of the acetotrophic genus Methanosaeta. Moreover, the dataset indicated a variety of metabolic genes involved in sulfur, nitrogen, iron, and phosphorus cycles, with many genera able to act in all cycles. BLAST analysis against Antibiotic Resistance Genes Database (ARDB) revealed that microbial community contained 43 different types of antibiotic resistance genes, some of them were associated with growth chicken promotion (e.g., bacitracin, tetracycline, and polymyxin).
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Affiliation(s)
- Tiago Palladino Delforno
- Microbial Resources Division, Research Center for Chemistry, Biology and Agriculture (CPQBA), Campinas University - UNICAMP, Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Gileno Vieira Lacerda Júnior
- Microbial Resources Division, Research Center for Chemistry, Biology and Agriculture (CPQBA), Campinas University - UNICAMP, Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Melline F Noronha
- Microbial Resources Division, Research Center for Chemistry, Biology and Agriculture (CPQBA), Campinas University - UNICAMP, Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Isabel K Sakamoto
- Laboratory of Biological Processes, Department of Hydraulics and Sanitation, Engineering School of São Carlos - University of São Paulo (EESC - USP) Campus II, São Carlos, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Maria Bernadete A Varesche
- Laboratory of Biological Processes, Department of Hydraulics and Sanitation, Engineering School of São Carlos - University of São Paulo (EESC - USP) Campus II, São Carlos, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Valéria M Oliveira
- Microbial Resources Division, Research Center for Chemistry, Biology and Agriculture (CPQBA), Campinas University - UNICAMP, Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil
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Marbouty M, Baudry L, Cournac A, Koszul R. Scaffolding bacterial genomes and probing host-virus interactions in gut microbiome by proximity ligation (chromosome capture) assay. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2017; 3:e1602105. [PMID: 28232956 PMCID: PMC5315449 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.1602105] [Citation(s) in RCA: 80] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/02/2016] [Accepted: 01/09/2017] [Indexed: 05/05/2023]
Abstract
The biochemical activities of microbial communities, or microbiomes, are essential parts of environmental and animal ecosystems. The dynamics, balance, and effects of these communities are strongly influenced by phages present in the population. Being able to characterize bacterium-phage relationships is therefore essential to investigate these ecosystems to the full extent of their complexity. However, this task is currently limited by (i) the ability to characterize complete bacterial and viral genomes from a complex mix of species and (ii) the difficulty to assign phage sequences to their bacterial hosts. We show that both limitations can be circumvented using meta3C, an experimental and computational approach that exploits the physical contacts between DNA molecules to infer their proximity. In a single experiment, dozens of bacterial and phage genomes present in a complex mouse gut microbiota were assembled and scaffolded de novo. The phage genomes were then assigned to their putative bacterial hosts according to the physical contacts between the different DNA molecules, opening new perspectives for a comprehensive picture of the genomic structure of the gut flora. Therefore, this work holds far-reaching implications for human health studies aiming to bridge the virome to the microbiome.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martial Marbouty
- Institut Pasteur, Department Genomes and Genetics, Groupe Régulation Spatiale des Génomes, 75015 Paris, France
- CNRS, UMR 3525, 75015 Paris, France
| | - Lyam Baudry
- Institut Pasteur, Department Genomes and Genetics, Groupe Régulation Spatiale des Génomes, 75015 Paris, France
- CNRS, UMR 3525, 75015 Paris, France
| | - Axel Cournac
- Institut Pasteur, Department Genomes and Genetics, Groupe Régulation Spatiale des Génomes, 75015 Paris, France
- CNRS, UMR 3525, 75015 Paris, France
| | - Romain Koszul
- Institut Pasteur, Department Genomes and Genetics, Groupe Régulation Spatiale des Génomes, 75015 Paris, France
- CNRS, UMR 3525, 75015 Paris, France
- Corresponding author.
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Tripathi V, Tripathi P. Antibiotic Resistance Genes: An Emerging Environmental Pollutant. PERSPECTIVES IN ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY 2017. [DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-46248-6_9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/02/2022]
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17
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Hladilek MD, Gaines KF, Novak JM, Collard DA, Johnson DB, Canam T. Microbial community structure of a freshwater system receiving wastewater effluent. ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING AND ASSESSMENT 2016; 188:626. [PMID: 27761851 DOI: 10.1007/s10661-016-5630-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2016] [Accepted: 10/05/2016] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
Despite our dependency on treatment facilities to condition wastewater for eventual release to the environment, our knowledge regarding the effects of treated water on the local watershed is extremely limited. Responses of lotic systems to the treated wastewater effluent have been traditionally investigated by examining the benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages and community structure; however, these studies do not address the microbial diversity of the water systems. In the present study, planktonic and benthic bacterial community structure were examined at 14 sites (from 60 m upstream to 12,100 m downstream) and at two time points along an aquatic system receiving treated effluent from the Charleston Wastewater Treatment Plant (Charleston, IL). Total bacterial DNA was isolated and 16S rRNA sequences were analyzed using a metagenomics platform. The community structure in planktonic bacterial communities was significantly correlated with dissolved oxygen concentration. Benthic bacterial communities were not correlated with water quality but did have a significant geographic structuring. A local restructuring effect was observed in both planktonic and benthic communities near the treated wastewater effluent, which was characterized by an increase in abundance of sphingobacteria. Sites further downstream from the wastewater facility appeared to be less influenced by the effluent. Overall, the present study demonstrated the utility of targeted high-throughput sequencing as a tool to assess the effects of treated wastewater effluent on a receiving water system, and highlighted the potential for this technology to be used for routine monitoring by wastewater facilities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew D Hladilek
- Department of Biological Sciences, Eastern Illinois University, Charleston, IL, USA
| | - Karen F Gaines
- Department of Biological Sciences, Eastern Illinois University, Charleston, IL, USA
| | - James M Novak
- Department of Biological Sciences, Eastern Illinois University, Charleston, IL, USA
| | - David A Collard
- Public Works Department, Wastewater Treatment, Charleston, IL, USA
| | - Daniel B Johnson
- Department of Biological Sciences, Eastern Illinois University, Charleston, IL, USA
- OneWater Incorporated, Indianapolis, IN, USA
| | - Thomas Canam
- Department of Biological Sciences, Eastern Illinois University, Charleston, IL, USA.
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18
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Gillings MR. Lateral gene transfer, bacterial genome evolution, and the Anthropocene. Ann N Y Acad Sci 2016; 1389:20-36. [DOI: 10.1111/nyas.13213] [Citation(s) in RCA: 82] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/12/2016] [Revised: 07/20/2016] [Accepted: 07/28/2016] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Michael R. Gillings
- Genes to Geoscience Research Centre, Department of Biological Sciences Macquarie University Sydney New South Wales Australia
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The Effect of Kanamycin and Tetracycline on Growth and Photosynthetic Activity of Two Chlorophyte Algae. BIOMED RESEARCH INTERNATIONAL 2016; 2016:5656304. [PMID: 27747232 PMCID: PMC5055999 DOI: 10.1155/2016/5656304] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2016] [Revised: 07/22/2016] [Accepted: 07/26/2016] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Antibiotics are routinely used in microalgae culture screening, stock culture maintenance, and genetic transformation. By studying the effect of antibiotics on microalgae growth, we can estimate the least value to inhibit growth of undesired pathogens in algal culture. We studied the effect of kanamycin and tetracycline on the growth and photosynthetic activity of two chlorophyte microalgae, Dictyosphaerium pulchellum and Micractinium pusillum. We measured CFU mL-1 on agar plates, optical density, fluorescence yields, and photosynthetic inhibition. Our results showed a significant effect of kan and tet on the tested microalgae species except tet, which showed a minor effect on M. pusillum. Both antibiotics are believed to interact with the protein synthesis machinery; hence, the inhibitory effect of the tested antibiotics was further confirmed by isolation and quantification of the whole cell protein. A significant reduction in protein quantity was observed at concentrations more than 5 mg L-1, except M. pusillum, which showed only a slight reduction in protein quantity even at the maximum tested concentration of tet (30 mg L-1). This study can further aid in aquaculture industry, for the maintenance of the microalgae stock cultures and it can also help the microalgae genetic engineers in the construction of molecular markers.
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Arango-Argoty G, Singh G, Heath LS, Pruden A, Xiao W, Zhang L. MetaStorm: A Public Resource for Customizable Metagenomics Annotation. PLoS One 2016; 11:e0162442. [PMID: 27632579 PMCID: PMC5025195 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0162442] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2016] [Accepted: 08/23/2016] [Indexed: 02/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Metagenomics is a trending research area, calling for the need to analyze large quantities of data generated from next generation DNA sequencing technologies. The need to store, retrieve, analyze, share, and visualize such data challenges current online computational systems. Interpretation and annotation of specific information is especially a challenge for metagenomic data sets derived from environmental samples, because current annotation systems only offer broad classification of microbial diversity and function. Moreover, existing resources are not configured to readily address common questions relevant to environmental systems. Here we developed a new online user-friendly metagenomic analysis server called MetaStorm (http://bench.cs.vt.edu/MetaStorm/), which facilitates customization of computational analysis for metagenomic data sets. Users can upload their own reference databases to tailor the metagenomics annotation to focus on various taxonomic and functional gene markers of interest. MetaStorm offers two major analysis pipelines: an assembly-based annotation pipeline and the standard read annotation pipeline used by existing web servers. These pipelines can be selected individually or together. Overall, MetaStorm provides enhanced interactive visualization to allow researchers to explore and manipulate taxonomy and functional annotation at various levels of resolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gustavo Arango-Argoty
- Department of Computer Science, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia, United States of America
| | - Gargi Singh
- Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee, Uttarakhand, India
| | - Lenwood S. Heath
- Department of Computer Science, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia, United States of America
| | - Amy Pruden
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia, United States of America
| | - Weidong Xiao
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Temple University School of Medicine, Philadelphia, United States of America
| | - Liqing Zhang
- Department of Computer Science, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia, United States of America
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McCall CA, Bent E, Jørgensen TS, Dunfield KE, Habash MB. Metagenomic Comparison of Antibiotic Resistance Genes Associated with Liquid and Dewatered Biosolids. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY 2016; 45:463-470. [PMID: 27065392 DOI: 10.2134/jeq2015.05.0255] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
Municipal biosolids (MBs) that are land-applied in North America are known to possess an active microbial population that can include human pathogens. Activated sludge is a hotspot for the accumulation of antibiotics and has been shown to be a selective environment for microorganisms that contain antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs); however, the prevalence of ARGs in MBs is not well characterized. In this study, we enriched the plasmid metagenome from raw sewage sludge and two CP2 MBs, a mesophilic anaerobic digestate and a dewatered digestate, to evaluate the presence of ARGs in mobile genetic elements. The CP2-class biosolids are similar to Class B biosolids in the United States. The CP2 biosolids must meet a microbiological cut off of 2 × 10 colony-forming units (CFU) per dry gram or 100 mL of biosolids. The enriched plasmid DNA was sequenced (Illumina MiSeq). Sequence matching against databases, including the Comprehensive Antibiotic Resistance Database (CARD), MG-RAST, and INTEGRALL, identified potential genes of interest related to ARGs and their ability to transfer. The presence and abundance of different ARGs varied between treatments with heterogeneity observed among the same sample types. The MBs plasmid-enriched metagenomes contained ARGs associated with resistance to a variety of antibiotics, including β-lactams, rifampicin, quinolone, and tetracycline as well as the detection of extended spectrum β-lactamase genes. Cultured bacteria from CP2 MBs possessed antibiotic resistances consistent with the MBs metagenome data including multiantibiotic-resistant isolates. The results from this study provide a better understanding of the ARG and MGE profile of the plasmid-enriched metagenome of CP2 MBs.
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Genomic Analysis of Bacterial Outbreaks. Evol Biol 2016. [DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-41324-2_13] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
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Li X, Wang Y, Brown CJ, Yao F, Jiang Y, Top EM, Li H. Diversification of broad host range plasmids correlates with the presence of antibiotic resistance genes. FEMS Microbiol Ecol 2015; 92:fiv151. [PMID: 26635412 DOI: 10.1093/femsec/fiv151] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 11/26/2015] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The IncP-1ε subgroup is a recently identified phylogenetic clade within IncP-1 plasmids, which plays an important role in the spread of antibiotic resistance and degradation of xenobiotic pollutants. Here, four IncP-1ε plasmids were exogenously captured from a petroleum-contaminated habitat in China and compared phylogenetically and genomically with previously reported IncP-1ε and other IncP-1 plasmids. The IncP-1ε plasmids can be clearly subdivided into two subclades, designated as ε-I and ε-II, based on phylogenetic analysis of backbone proteins TraI and TrfA. This was further supported by comparison of concatenated backbone genes. Moreover, the two subclades differed in the transposon types, phenotypes and insertion locations of the accessory elements. The accessory genes on ε-I plasmids were inserted between parA and traC, and harbored ISPa17 and Tn402-like transposon modules, typically carrying antibiotic resistance genes. In contrast, the accessory elements on ε-II plasmids were typically located between trfA and oriV, and contained IS1071, which was commonly inserted within the Tn501-like transposon, typically harboring a cluster of genes encoding mercury resistance and/or catabolic pathways. Our study is one of the first to compare IncP-1 plasmid genomes from China, expands the available collection of IncP-1ε plasmids and enhances our understanding of their diversity, biogeography and evolutionary history.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaobin Li
- State Key Laboratory of Forest and Soil Ecology, Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110164, China University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Yafei Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Forest and Soil Ecology, Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110164, China
| | - Celeste J Brown
- Department of Biological Sciences, Institute for Bioinformatics and Evolutionary Studies (IBEST), University of Idaho, Moscow, ID 83844-3051, USA
| | - Fei Yao
- State Key Laboratory of Forest and Soil Ecology, Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110164, China University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Yong Jiang
- State Key Laboratory of Forest and Soil Ecology, Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110164, China
| | - Eva M Top
- Department of Biological Sciences, Institute for Bioinformatics and Evolutionary Studies (IBEST), University of Idaho, Moscow, ID 83844-3051, USA
| | - Hui Li
- State Key Laboratory of Forest and Soil Ecology, Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110164, China
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Waldron LS, Gillings MR. Screening Foodstuffs for Class 1 Integrons and Gene Cassettes. J Vis Exp 2015:e52889. [PMID: 26132232 DOI: 10.3791/52889] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Antibiotic resistance is one of the greatest threats to health in the 21st century. Acquisition of resistance genes via lateral gene transfer is a major factor in the spread of diverse resistance mechanisms. Amongst the DNA elements facilitating lateral transfer, the class 1 integrons have largely been responsible for spreading antibiotic resistance determinants amongst Gram negative pathogens. In total, these integrons have acquired and disseminated over 130 different antibiotic resistance genes. With continued antibiotic use, class 1 integrons have become ubiquitous in commensals and pathogens of humans and their domesticated animals. As a consequence, they can now be found in all human waste streams, where they continue to acquire new genes, and have the potential to cycle back into humans via the food chain. This protocol details a streamlined approach for detecting class 1 integrons and their associated resistance gene cassettes in foodstuffs, using culturing and PCR. Using this protocol, researchers should be able to: collect and prepare samples to make enriched cultures and screen for class 1 integrons; isolate single bacterial colonies to identify integron-positive isolates; identify bacterial species that contain class 1 integrons; and characterize these integrons and their associated gene cassettes.
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Stöveken J, Singh R, Kolkenbrock S, Zakrzewski M, Wibberg D, Eikmeyer F, Pühler A, Schlüter A, Moerschbacher B. Successful heterologous expression of a novel chitinase identified by sequence analyses of the metagenome from a chitin-enriched soil sample. J Biotechnol 2015; 201:60-8. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jbiotec.2014.09.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2014] [Revised: 08/29/2014] [Accepted: 09/09/2014] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
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Abstract
Integrons are versatile gene acquisition systems commonly found in bacterial genomes. They are ancient elements that are a hot spot for genomic complexity, generating phenotypic diversity and shaping adaptive responses. In recent times, they have had a major role in the acquisition, expression, and dissemination of antibiotic resistance genes. Assessing the ongoing threats posed by integrons requires an understanding of their origins and evolutionary history. This review examines the functions and activities of integrons before the antibiotic era. It shows how antibiotic use selected particular integrons from among the environmental pool of these elements, such that integrons carrying resistance genes are now present in the majority of Gram-negative pathogens. Finally, it examines the potential consequences of widespread pollution with the novel integrons that have been assembled via the agency of human antibiotic use and speculates on the potential uses of integrons as platforms for biotechnology.
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Li X, Top EM, Wang Y, Brown CJ, Yao F, Yang S, Jiang Y, Li H. The broad-host-range plasmid pSFA231 isolated from petroleum-contaminated sediment represents a new member of the PromA plasmid family. Front Microbiol 2015; 5:777. [PMID: 25628616 PMCID: PMC4290620 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2014.00777] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/07/2014] [Accepted: 12/18/2014] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
A self-transmissible broad-host-range (BHR) plasmid pSFA231 was isolated from petroleum-contaminated sediment in Shen-fu wastewater irrigation zone, China, using the triparental mating exogenous plasmid capture method. Based on its complete sequence the plasmid has a size of 41.5 kb and codes for 50 putative open reading frames (orfs), 29 of which represent genes involved in replication, partitioning and transfer functions of the plasmid. Phylogenetic analysis grouped pSFA231 into the newly defined PromA plasmid family, which currently includes five members. Further comparative genomic analysis shows that pSFA231 shares the common backbone regions with the other PromA plasmids, i.e., genes involved in replication, maintenance and control, and conjugative transfer. Nevertheless, phylogenetic divergence was found in specific gene products. We propose to divide the PromA group into two subgroups, PromA-α (pMRAD02, pSB102) and PromA-β (pMOL98, pIPO2T, pSFA231, pTer331), based on the splits network analysis of the RepA protein. Interestingly, a cluster of hypothetical orfs located between parA and traA of pSFA231 shows high similarity with the corresponding regions on pMOL98, pIPO2T, and pTer331, suggesting these hypothetical orfs may represent “essential” plasmid backbone genes for the PromA-β subgroup. Alternatively, they may also be accessory genes that were first acquired and then stayed as the plasmid diverged. Our study increases the available collection of complete genome sequences of BHR plasmids, and since pSFA231 is the only characterized PromA plasmid from China, our findings also enhance our understanding of the genetic diversity of this plasmid group in different parts of the world.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaobin Li
- State Key Laboratory of Forest and Soil Ecology, Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences Shenyang, China ; College of Resources and Environment, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing, China
| | - Eva M Top
- Department of Biological Sciences, Institute for Bioinformatics and Evolutionary Studies, University of Idaho Moscow, ID, USA
| | - Yafei Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Forest and Soil Ecology, Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences Shenyang, China
| | - Celeste J Brown
- Department of Biological Sciences, Institute for Bioinformatics and Evolutionary Studies, University of Idaho Moscow, ID, USA
| | - Fei Yao
- State Key Laboratory of Forest and Soil Ecology, Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences Shenyang, China ; College of Resources and Environment, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing, China
| | - Shan Yang
- State Key Laboratory of Forest and Soil Ecology, Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences Shenyang, China
| | - Yong Jiang
- State Key Laboratory of Forest and Soil Ecology, Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences Shenyang, China
| | - Hui Li
- State Key Laboratory of Forest and Soil Ecology, Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences Shenyang, China
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Plasmid-encoded tetracycline efflux pump protein alters bacterial stress responses and ecological fitness of Acinetobacter oleivorans. PLoS One 2014; 9:e107716. [PMID: 25229538 PMCID: PMC4167995 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0107716] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2014] [Accepted: 08/21/2014] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Acquisition of the extracellular tetracycline (TC) resistance plasmid pAST2 affected host gene expression and phenotype in the oil-degrading soil bacterium, Acinetobacter oleivorans DR1. Whole-transcriptome profiling of DR1 cells harboring pAST2 revealed that all the plasmid genes were highly expressed under TC conditions, and the expression levels of many host chromosomal genes were modulated by the presence of pAST2. The host energy burden imposed by replication of pAST2 led to (i) lowered ATP concentrations, (ii) downregulated expression of many genes involved in cellular growth, and (iii) reduced growth rate. Interestingly, some phenotypes were restored by deleting the plasmid-encoded efflux pump gene tetH, suggesting that the membrane integrity changes resulting from the incorporation of efflux pump proteins also resulted in altered host response under the tested conditions. Alteration of membrane integrity by tetH deletion was shown by measuring permeability of fluorescent probe and membrane hydrophobicity. The presence of the plasmid conferred peroxide and superoxide resistance to cells, but only peroxide resistance was diminished by tetH gene deletion, suggesting that the plasmid-encoded membrane-bound efflux pump protein provided peroxide resistance. The downregulation of fimbriae-related genes presumably led to reduced swimming motility, but this phenotype was recovered by tetH gene deletion. Our data suggest that not only the plasmid replication burden, but also its encoded efflux pump protein altered host chromosomal gene expression and phenotype, which also alters the ecological fitness of the host in the environment.
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Pyrosequencing reveals the inhibitory impact of chronic exposure to erythromycin on activated sludge bacterial community structure. Biochem Eng J 2014. [DOI: 10.1016/j.bej.2014.06.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
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Sekar S, Zintchem AA, Keshri J, Kamika I, Momba MN. Bacterial profiling in brine samples of the Emalahleni Water Reclamation Plant, South Africa, using 454-pyrosequencing method. FEMS Microbiol Lett 2014; 359:55-63. [DOI: 10.1111/1574-6968.12557] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/13/2014] [Revised: 07/14/2014] [Accepted: 07/20/2014] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Sudharshan Sekar
- Department of Environmental, Water and Earth Sciences; Water Care Unit; TUT; Pretoria South Africa
| | - Armand A.E.A. Zintchem
- Department of Environmental, Water and Earth Sciences; Water Care Unit; TUT; Pretoria South Africa
| | - Jitendra Keshri
- Department of Environmental, Water and Earth Sciences; Water Care Unit; TUT; Pretoria South Africa
| | - Ilunga Kamika
- Department of Environmental, Water and Earth Sciences; Water Care Unit; TUT; Pretoria South Africa
| | - Maggy N.B. Momba
- Department of Environmental, Water and Earth Sciences; Water Care Unit; TUT; Pretoria South Africa
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Jørgensen TS, Xu Z, Hansen MA, Sørensen SJ, Hansen LH. Hundreds of circular novel plasmids and DNA elements identified in a rat cecum metamobilome. PLoS One 2014; 9:e87924. [PMID: 24503942 PMCID: PMC3913684 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0087924] [Citation(s) in RCA: 85] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2013] [Accepted: 12/30/2013] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Metagenomic approaches are widespread in microbiological research, but so far, the knowledge on extrachromosomal DNA diversity and composition has largely remained dependant on cultivating host organisms. Even with the emergence of metagenomics, complete circular sequences are rarely identified, and have required manual curation. We propose a robust in silico procedure for identifying complete small plasmids in metagenomic datasets from whole genome shotgun sequencing. From one very pure and exhaustively sequenced metamobilome from rat cecum, we identified a total of 616 circular sequences, 160 of which were carrying a gene with plasmid replication domain. Further homology analyses indicated that the majority of these plasmid sequences are novel. We confirmed the circularity of the complete plasmid candidates using an inverse-type PCR approach on a subset of sequences with 95% success, confirming the existence and length of discrete sequences. The implication of these findings is a broadened understanding of the traits of circular elements in nature and the possibility of massive data mining in existing metagenomic datasets to discover novel pools of complete plasmids thus vastly expanding the current plasmid database.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Zhuofei Xu
- Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | | | | | - Lars Hestbjerg Hansen
- Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Department of Environmental Science, Aarhus Universitet, Roskilde, Denmark
- * E-mail: (SJS); (LHH)
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Hong H, Ko HJ, Choi IG, Park W. Previously undescribed plasmids recovered from activated sludge confer tetracycline resistance and phenotypic changes to Acinetobacter oleivorans DR1. MICROBIAL ECOLOGY 2014; 67:369-379. [PMID: 24337108 DOI: 10.1007/s00248-013-0343-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2013] [Accepted: 12/02/2013] [Indexed: 06/03/2023]
Abstract
We used culture-dependent and culture-independent methods to extract previously undescribed plasmids harboring tetracycline (TC) resistance genes from activated sludge. The extracted plasmids were transformed into naturally competent Acinetobacter oleivorans DR1 to recover a non-Escherichia coli-based plasmid. The transformed cells showed 80-100-fold higher TC resistance than the wild-type strain. Restriction length polymorphism performed using 30 transformed cells showed four different types of plasmids. Illumina-based whole sequencing of the four plasmids identified three previously unreported plasmids and one previously reported plasmid. All plasmids carried TC resistance-related genes (tetL, tetH), tetracycline transcriptional regulators (tetR), and mobilization-related genes. As per expression analysis, TC resistance genes were functional in the presence of TC. The recovered plasmids showed mosaic gene acquisition through horizontal gene transfer. Membrane fluidity, hydrophobicity, biofilm formation, motility, growth rate, sensitivity to stresses, and quorum sensing signals of the transformed cells were different from those of the wild-type cells. Plasmid-bearing cells seemed to have an energy burden for maintaining and expressing plasmid genes. Our data showed that acquisition of TC resistance through plasmid uptake is related to loss of biological fitness. Thus, cells acquiring antibiotic resistance plasmids can survive in the presence of antibiotics, but must pay ecological costs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hyerim Hong
- Department of Environmental Science and Ecological Engineering, Korea University, Anam-Dong 5Ga, Seungbuk-Ku, Seoul, 136-713, Republic of Korea
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Varela AR, Manaia CM. Human health implications of clinically relevant bacteria in wastewater habitats. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH INTERNATIONAL 2013; 20:3550-3569. [PMID: 23508533 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-013-1594-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2012] [Accepted: 02/25/2013] [Indexed: 06/01/2023]
Abstract
The objective of this review is to reflect on the multiple roles of bacteria in wastewater habitats with particular emphasis on their harmful potential for human health. Indigenous bacteria promote a series of biochemical and metabolic transformations indispensable to achieve wastewater treatment. Some of these bacteria may be pathogenic or harbour antibiotic resistance or virulence genes harmful for human health. Several chemical contaminants (heavy metals, disinfectants and antibiotics) may select these bacteria or their genes. Worldwide studies show that treated wastewater contain antibiotic resistant bacteria or genes encoding virulence or antimicrobial resistance, evidencing that treatment processes may fail to remove efficiently these bio-pollutants. The contamination of the surrounding environment, such as rivers or lakes receiving such effluents, is also documented in several studies. The current state of the art suggests that only some of antibiotic resistance and virulence potential in wastewater is known. Moreover, wastewater habitats may favour the evolution and dissemination of new resistance and virulence genes and the emergence of new pathogens. For these reasons, additional research is needed in order to obtain a more detailed assessment of the long-term effects of wastewater discharges. In particular, it is important to measure the human and environmental health risks associated with wastewater reuse.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ana Rita Varela
- CBQF - Centro de Biotecnologia e Química Fina - Laboratório Associado, Escola Superior de Biotecnologia, Universidade Católica Portuguesa/Porto, Rua Dr. António Bernardino de Almeida, 4200-072, Porto, Portugal
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Rizzo L, Manaia C, Merlin C, Schwartz T, Dagot C, Ploy MC, Michael I, Fatta-Kassinos D. Urban wastewater treatment plants as hotspots for antibiotic resistant bacteria and genes spread into the environment: a review. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2013; 447:345-60. [PMID: 23396083 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2013.01.032] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1247] [Impact Index Per Article: 113.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2012] [Revised: 01/08/2013] [Accepted: 01/08/2013] [Indexed: 05/20/2023]
Abstract
Urban wastewater treatment plants (UWTPs) are among the main sources of antibiotics' release into the environment. The occurrence of antibiotics may promote the selection of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and antibiotic resistant bacteria (ARB), which shade health risks to humans and animals. In this paper the fate of ARB and ARGs in UWTPs, focusing on different processes/technologies (i.e., biological processes, advanced treatment technologies and disinfection), was critically reviewed. The mechanisms by which biological processes influence the development/selection of ARB and ARGs transfer are still poorly understood. Advanced treatment technologies and disinfection process are regarded as a major tool to control the spread of ARB into the environment. In spite of intense efforts made over the last years to bring solutions to control antibiotic resistance spread in the environment, there are still important gaps to fill in. In particular, it is important to: (i) improve risk assessment studies in order to allow accurate estimates about the maximal abundance of ARB in UWTPs effluents that would not pose risks for human and environmental health; (ii) understand the factors and mechanisms that drive antibiotic resistance maintenance and selection in wastewater habitats. The final objective is to implement wastewater treatment technologies capable of assuring the production of UWTPs effluents with an acceptable level of ARB.
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Affiliation(s)
- L Rizzo
- Department of Civil Engineering, University of Salerno, 84084, Fisciano (SA), Italy.
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36
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Sentchilo V, Mayer AP, Guy L, Miyazaki R, Green Tringe S, Barry K, Malfatti S, Goessmann A, Robinson-Rechavi M, van der Meer JR. Community-wide plasmid gene mobilization and selection. ISME JOURNAL 2013; 7:1173-86. [PMID: 23407308 PMCID: PMC3660673 DOI: 10.1038/ismej.2013.13] [Citation(s) in RCA: 85] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Plasmids have long been recognized as an important driver of DNA exchange and genetic innovation in prokaryotes. The success of plasmids has been attributed to their independent replication from the host's chromosome and their frequent self-transfer. It is thought that plasmids accumulate, rearrange and distribute nonessential genes, which may provide an advantage for host proliferation under selective conditions. In order to test this hypothesis independently of biases from culture selection, we study the plasmid metagenome from microbial communities in two activated sludge systems, one of which receives mostly household and the other chemical industry wastewater. We find that plasmids from activated sludge microbial communities carry among the largest proportion of unknown gene pools so far detected in metagenomic DNA, confirming their presumed role of DNA innovators. At a system level both plasmid metagenomes were dominated by functions associated with replication and transposition, and contained a wide variety of antibiotic and heavy metal resistances. Plasmid families were very different in the two metagenomes and grouped in deep-branching new families compared with known plasmid replicons. A number of abundant plasmid replicons could be completely assembled directly from the metagenome, providing insight in plasmid composition without culturing bias. Functionally, the two metagenomes strongly differed in several ways, including a greater abundance of genes for carbohydrate metabolism in the industrial and of general defense factors in the household activated sludge plasmid metagenome. This suggests that plasmids not only contribute to the adaptation of single individual prokaryotic species, but of the prokaryotic community as a whole under local selective conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vladimir Sentchilo
- Department of Fundamental Microbiology, University of Lausanne, Biophore, Quartier UNIL-Sorge, Lausanne, Switzerland
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Gillings MR. Evolutionary consequences of antibiotic use for the resistome, mobilome and microbial pangenome. Front Microbiol 2013; 4:4. [PMID: 23386843 PMCID: PMC3560386 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2013.00004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 144] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2012] [Accepted: 01/03/2013] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
The widespread use and abuse of antibiotic therapy has evolutionary and ecological consequences, some of which are only just beginning to be examined. One well known consequence is the fixation of mutations and lateral gene transfer (LGT) events that confer antibiotic resistance. Sequential selection events, driven by different classes of antibiotics, have resulted in the assembly of diverse resistance determinants and mobile DNAs into novel genetic elements of ever-growing complexity and flexibility. These novel plasmids, integrons, and genomic islands have now become fixed at high frequency in diverse cell lineages by human antibiotic use. Consequently they can be regarded as xenogenetic pollutants, analogous to xenobiotic compounds, but with the critical distinction that they replicate rather than degrade when released to pollute natural environments. Antibiotics themselves must also be regarded as pollutants, since human production overwhelms natural synthesis, and a major proportion of ingested antibiotic is excreted unchanged into waste streams. Such antibiotic pollutants have non-target effects, raising the general rates of mutation, recombination, and LGT in all the microbiome, and simultaneously providing the selective force to fix such changes. This has the consequence of recruiting more genes into the resistome and mobilome, and of increasing the overlap between these two components of microbial genomes. Thus the human use and environmental release of antibiotics is having second order effects on the microbial world, because these small molecules act as drivers of bacterial evolution. Continued pollution with both xenogenetic elements and the selective agents that fix such elements in populations has potentially adverse consequences for human welfare.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael R Gillings
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University Sydney, NSW, Australia
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Hu M, Wang X, Wen X, Xia Y. Microbial community structures in different wastewater treatment plants as revealed by 454-pyrosequencing analysis. BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY 2012; 117:72-9. [PMID: 22609716 DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2012.04.061] [Citation(s) in RCA: 135] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2012] [Revised: 04/17/2012] [Accepted: 04/18/2012] [Indexed: 05/20/2023]
Abstract
In this study, 454-pyrosequencing technology was employed to investigate the microbial communities in 12 municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWPTs) with different treatment processes. In total, 202,968 effective sequences of the 16S rRNA gene were generated from 16 samples that widely represented the diversity of the microbial communities. While Proteobacteria was found to be the dominant phylum in some samples, in other samples it was Bacteroidetes. The Simpson's diversity index and evenness index were lowest in samples from membrane bioreactors (MBRs), possibly due to the long sludge retention time (SRT) and low food/microorganism ratio (F/M). For one WWTP which had two disparate treatment processes operating in parallel, the structures of microbial communities in the two systems were compared. The differences found between the two indicated that the treatment process likely had effects on the structure of microbial communities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Man Hu
- Environmental Simulation and Pollution Control State Key Joint Laboratory, School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
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39
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Li L, Norman A, Hansen L, Sorensen S. Metamobilomics – expanding our knowledge on the pool of plasmid encoded traits in natural environments using high-throughput sequencing. Clin Microbiol Infect 2012; 18 Suppl 4:5-7. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-0691.2012.03862.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
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40
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Gillings MR, Stokes H. Are humans increasing bacterial evolvability? Trends Ecol Evol 2012; 27:346-52. [DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2012.02.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 124] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/03/2011] [Revised: 02/21/2012] [Accepted: 02/28/2012] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
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Rahube TO, Yost CK. Characterization of a mobile and multiple resistance plasmid isolated from swine manure and its detection in soil after manure application. J Appl Microbiol 2012; 112:1123-33. [PMID: 22486928 DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2672.2012.05301.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
AIMS To isolate and characterize multiple antibiotic resistance plasmids found in swine manure and test for plasmid-associated genetic markers in soil following manure application to an agricultural field. METHODS AND RESULTS Plasmids were isolated from an erythromycin enrichment culture that used liquid swine manure as an inoculant. Plasmids were transformed into Escherichia coli DH10β for subsequent characterization. We isolated and DNA sequenced a 22 102-bp plasmid (pMC2) that confers macrolide, and tetracycline resistances, and carries genes predicted to code for mercury and chromium resistance. Conjugation experiments using an pRP4 derivative as a helper plasmid confirm that pMC2 has a functional mobilization unit. PCR was used to detect genetic elements found on pMC2 in DNA extracted from manure amended soil. CONCLUSIONS The pMC2 plasmid has a tetracycline-resistant core and has acquired additional resistance genes by insertion of an accessory region (12 762 bp) containing macrolide, mercury and chromium resistance genes, which was inserted between the truncated DDE motifs within the Tn903/IS102 mobile element. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY Liquid swine manure used for manure spreading contains multiple antibiotic resistance plasmids that can be detected in soil following manure application.
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Affiliation(s)
- T O Rahube
- Department of Biology, University of Regina, Regina, SK, Canada
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Schmieder R, Edwards R. Insights into antibiotic resistance through metagenomic approaches. Future Microbiol 2012; 7:73-89. [PMID: 22191448 DOI: 10.2217/fmb.11.135] [Citation(s) in RCA: 181] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
The consequences of bacterial infections have been curtailed by the introduction of a wide range of antibiotics. However, infections continue to be a leading cause of mortality, in part due to the evolution and acquisition of antibiotic-resistance genes. Antibiotic misuse and overprescription have created a driving force influencing the selection of resistance. Despite the problem of antibiotic resistance in infectious bacteria, little is known about the diversity, distribution and origins of resistance genes, especially for the unculturable majority of environmental bacteria. Functional and sequence-based metagenomics have been used for the discovery of novel resistance determinants and the improved understanding of antibiotic-resistance mechanisms in clinical and natural environments. This review discusses recent findings and future challenges in the study of antibiotic resistance through metagenomic approaches.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert Schmieder
- Computational Science Research Center & Department of Computer Science, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 92182, USA
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Silva CC, Hayden H, Sawbridge T, Mele P, Kruger RH, Rodrigues MVN, Costa GGL, Vidal RO, Sousa MP, Torres APR, Santiago VMJ, Oliveira VM. Phylogenetic and functional diversity of metagenomic libraries of phenol degrading sludge from petroleum refinery wastewater treatment system. AMB Express 2012; 2:18. [PMID: 22452812 PMCID: PMC3366876 DOI: 10.1186/2191-0855-2-18] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2012] [Accepted: 03/27/2012] [Indexed: 01/24/2023] Open
Abstract
In petrochemical refinery wastewater treatment plants (WWTP), different concentrations of pollutant compounds are received daily in the influent stream, including significant amounts of phenolic compounds, creating propitious conditions for the development of particular microorganisms that can rapidly adapt to such environment. In the present work, the microbial sludge from a refinery WWTP was enriched for phenol, cloned into fosmid vectors and pyrosequenced. The fosmid libraries yielded 13,200 clones and a comprehensive bioinformatic analysis of the sequence data set revealed a complex and diverse bacterial community in the phenol degrading sludge. The phylogenetic analyses using MEGAN in combination with RDP classifier showed a massive predominance of Proteobacteria, represented mostly by the genera Diaphorobacter, Pseudomonas, Thauera and Comamonas. The functional classification of phenol degrading sludge sequence data set generated by MG-RAST showed the wide metabolic diversity of the microbial sludge, with a high percentage of genes involved in the aerobic and anaerobic degradation of phenol and derivatives. In addition, genes related to the metabolism of many other organic and xenobiotic compounds, such as toluene, biphenyl, naphthalene and benzoate, were found. Results gathered herein demonstrated that the phenol degrading sludge has complex phylogenetic and functional diversities, showing the potential of such community to degrade several pollutant compounds. This microbiota is likely to represent a rich resource of versatile and unknown enzymes which may be exploited for biotechnological processes such as bioremediation.
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Eikmeyer F, Hadiati A, Szczepanowski R, Wibberg D, Schneiker-Bekel S, Rogers LM, Brown CJ, Top EM, Pühler A, Schlüter A. The complete genome sequences of four new IncN plasmids from wastewater treatment plant effluent provide new insights into IncN plasmid diversity and evolution. Plasmid 2012; 68:13-24. [PMID: 22326849 DOI: 10.1016/j.plasmid.2012.01.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2011] [Revised: 11/16/2011] [Accepted: 01/20/2012] [Indexed: 10/14/2022]
Abstract
The dissemination of antibiotic resistance genes among bacteria often occurs by means of plasmids. Wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) were previously recognized as hot spots for the horizontal transfer of genetic material. One of the plasmid groups that is often associated with drug resistance is the incompatibility group IncN. The aim of this study was to gain insights into the diversity and evolutionary history of IncN plasmids by determining and comparing the complete genome sequences of the four novel multi-drug resistance plasmids pRSB201, pRSB203, pRSB205 and pRSB206 that were exogenously isolated from the final effluent of a municipal WWTP. Their sizes range between 42,875 bp and 56,488 bp and they share a common set of backbone modules that encode plasmid replication initiation, conjugative transfer, and plasmid maintenance and control. All plasmids are transferable at high rates between Escherichia coli strains, but did not show a broad host range. Different genes conferring resistances to ampicillin, streptomycin, spectinomycin, sulfonamides, tetracycline and trimethoprim were identified in accessory modules inserted in these plasmids. Comparative analysis of the four WWTP IncN plasmids and IncN plasmids deposited in the NCBI database enabled the definition of a core set of backbone genes for this group. Moreover, this approach revealed a close phylogenetic relationship between the IncN plasmids isolated from environmental and clinical samples. Phylogenetic analysis also suggests the existence of host-specific IncN plasmid subgroups. In conclusion, IncN plasmids likely contribute to the dissemination of resistance determinants between environmental bacteria and clinical strains. This is of particular importance since multi-drug resistance IncN plasmids have been previously identified in members of the Enterobacteriaceae that cause severe infections in humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Felix Eikmeyer
- Institute for Genome Research and Systems Biology, Center for Biotechnology, Bielefeld University, D-33594 Bielefeld, Germany
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Tamminen M, Virta M, Fani R, Fondi M. Large-scale analysis of plasmid relationships through gene-sharing networks. Mol Biol Evol 2011; 29:1225-40. [PMID: 22130968 DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msr292] [Citation(s) in RCA: 75] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Plasmids are vessels of genetic exchange in microbial communities. They are known to transfer between different host organisms and acquire diverse genetic elements from chromosomes and/or other plasmids. Therefore, they constitute an important element in microbial evolution by rapidly disseminating various genetic properties among different communities. A paradigmatic example of this is the dissemination of antibiotic resistance (AR) genes that has resulted in the emergence of multiresistant pathogenic bacterial strains. To globally analyze the evolutionary dynamics of plasmids, we built a large graph in which 2,343 plasmids (nodes) are connected according to the proteins shared by each other. The analysis of this gene-sharing network revealed an overall coherence between network clustering and the phylogenetic classes of the corresponding microorganisms, likely resulting from genetic barriers to horizontal gene transfer between distant phylogenetic groups. Habitat was not a crucial factor in clustering as plasmids from organisms inhabiting different environments were often found embedded in the same cluster. Analyses of network metrics revealed a statistically significant correlation between plasmid mobility and their centrality within the network, providing support to the observation that mobile plasmids are particularly important in spreading genes in microbial communities. Finally, our study reveals an extensive (and previously undescribed) sharing of AR genes between Actinobacteria and Gammaproteobacteria, suggesting that the former might represent an important reservoir of AR genes for the latter.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manu Tamminen
- Department of Food and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
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Ma Y, Paulsen IT, Palenik B. Analysis of two marine metagenomes reveals the diversity of plasmids in oceanic environments. Environ Microbiol 2011; 14:453-66. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1462-2920.2011.02633.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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Zhang T, Zhang XX, Ye L. Plasmid metagenome reveals high levels of antibiotic resistance genes and mobile genetic elements in activated sludge. PLoS One 2011; 6:e26041. [PMID: 22016806 PMCID: PMC3189950 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0026041] [Citation(s) in RCA: 198] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2011] [Accepted: 09/16/2011] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
The overuse or misuse of antibiotics has accelerated antibiotic resistance, creating a major challenge for the public health in the world. Sewage treatment plants (STPs) are considered as important reservoirs for antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and activated sludge characterized with high microbial density and diversity facilitates ARG horizontal gene transfer (HGT) via mobile genetic elements (MGEs). However, little is known regarding the pool of ARGs and MGEs in sludge microbiome. In this study, the transposon aided capture (TRACA) system was employed to isolate novel plasmids from activated sludge of one STP in Hong Kong, China. We also used Illumina Hiseq 2000 high-throughput sequencing and metagenomics analysis to investigate the plasmid metagenome. Two novel plasmids were acquired from the sludge microbiome by using TRACA system and one novel plasmid was identified through metagenomics analysis. Our results revealed high levels of various ARGs as well as MGEs for HGT, including integrons, transposons and plasmids. The application of the TRACA system to isolate novel plasmids from the environmental metagenome, coupled with subsequent high-throughput sequencing and metagenomic analysis, highlighted the prevalence of ARGs and MGEs in microbial community of STPs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tong Zhang
- Environmental Biotechnology Lab, Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.
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Stokes HW, Gillings MR. Gene flow, mobile genetic elements and the recruitment of antibiotic resistance genes into Gram-negative pathogens. FEMS Microbiol Rev 2011; 35:790-819. [PMID: 21517914 DOI: 10.1111/j.1574-6976.2011.00273.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 372] [Impact Index Per Article: 28.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Antibiotics were one of the great discoveries of the 20th century. However, resistance appeared even in the earliest years of the antibiotic era. Antibiotic resistance continues to become worse, despite the ever-increasing resources devoted to combat the problem. One of the most important factors in the development of resistance to antibiotics is the remarkable ability of bacteria to share genetic resources via Lateral Gene Transfer (LGT). LGT occurs on a global scale, such that in theory, any gene in any organism anywhere in the microbial biosphere might be mobilized and spread. With sufficiently strong selection, any gene may spread to a point where it establishes a global presence. From an antibiotic resistance perspective, this means that a resistance phenotype can appear in a diverse range of infections around the globe nearly simultaneously. We discuss the forces and agents that make this LGT possible and argue that the problem of resistance can ultimately only be managed by understanding the problem from a broad ecological and evolutionary perspective. We also argue that human activities are exacerbating the problem by increasing the tempo of LGT and bacterial evolution for many traits that are important to humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hatch W Stokes
- The i3 Institute, University of Technology, Broadway 2007, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
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Manaia CM, Vaz-Moreira I, Nunes OC. Antibiotic Resistance in Waste Water and Surface Water and Human Health Implications. THE HANDBOOK OF ENVIRONMENTAL CHEMISTRY 2011. [DOI: 10.1007/698_2011_118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/30/2023]
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Abstract
Plasmids are key vectors of horizontal gene transfer and essential genetic engineering tools. They code for genes involved in many aspects of microbial biology, including detoxication, virulence, ecological interactions, and antibiotic resistance. While many studies have decorticated the mechanisms of mobility in model plasmids, the identification and characterization of plasmid mobility from genome data are unexplored. By reviewing the available data and literature, we established a computational protocol to identify and classify conjugation and mobilization genetic modules in 1,730 plasmids. This allowed the accurate classification of proteobacterial conjugative or mobilizable systems in a combination of four mating pair formation and six relaxase families. The available evidence suggests that half of the plasmids are nonmobilizable and that half of the remaining plasmids are conjugative. Some conjugative systems are much more abundant than others and preferably associated with some clades or plasmid sizes. Most very large plasmids are nonmobilizable, with evidence of ongoing domestication into secondary chromosomes. The evolution of conjugation elements shows ancient divergence between mobility systems, with relaxases and type IV coupling proteins (T4CPs) often following separate paths from type IV secretion systems. Phylogenetic patterns of mobility proteins are consistent with the phylogeny of the host prokaryotes, suggesting that plasmid mobility is in general circumscribed within large clades. Our survey suggests the existence of unsuspected new relaxases in archaea and new conjugation systems in cyanobacteria and actinobacteria. Few genes, e.g., T4CPs, relaxases, and VirB4, are at the core of plasmid conjugation, and together with accessory genes, they have evolved into specific systems adapted to specific physiological and ecological contexts.
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