Read, Daniel S;
Gweon, H Soon;
Bowes, Michael J;
Anjum, Muna F;
Crook, Derrick;
Chau, Kevin;
Shaw, Liam P;
... Stoesser, Nicole; + view all
(2024)
Dissemination and Persistence of Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) along the Wastewater-River Continuum.
Water Research
, 264
, Article 122204. 10.1016/j.watres.2024.122204.
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Abstract
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global health hazard. Although clinical and agricultural environments are well-established contributors to the evolution and dissemination of AMR, research on wastewater treatment works (WwTWs) has highlighted their potential role as disseminators of AMR in freshwater environments. Using metagenomic sequencing and analysis, we investigated the changes in resistomes and associated mobile genetic elements within untreated wastewater influents and treated effluents of five WwTWs, and sediments collected from corresponding river environments in Oxfordshire, UK, across three seasonal periods within a year. Our analysis demonstrated a high diversity and abundance of antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs) in untreated wastewater influents, reflecting the varied anthropogenic and environmental origins of wastewater. WwTWs effectively reduced AMR in the final effluent, with an average 87 % reduction in normalised ARG abundance and an average 63 % reduction in richness. However, wastewater effluents significantly impacted the antimicrobial resistome of the receiving rivers, with an average 543 % increase in ARG abundance and a 164 % increase in richness from upstream sediments to downstream sediments. The normalised abundance of the human gut-associated bacteriophage crAssphage was highly associated with both ARG abundance and richness. We observed seasonal variation in the resistome of raw influent which was not found in the effluent-receiving sediments. We illustrate the potential of WwTWs as focal points for disseminating ARGs and resistance-selecting chemicals, contributing to the elevation of environmental AMR. Our study emphasises the need for a comprehensive understanding of the anthropogenic impacts on AMR evolution and dissemination in wastewater and river environments, informing efforts to mitigate this growing public health crisis.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Dissemination and Persistence of Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) along the Wastewater-River Continuum |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.watres.2024.122204 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2024.122204 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License. The images or other third-party material in this article are included in the Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
| Keywords: | Antimicrobial resistance, Resistome, Wastewater, River, Sediment |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Inst of Clinical Trials and Methodology UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Inst of Clinical Trials and Methodology > MRC Clinical Trials Unit at UCL |
| URI: | https://discovery-pp.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10195417 |
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