| Title | Ecological theory and the fate of resistances in surface waters |
| Abstract | Ecology plays a crucial, although generally underestimated, role in determining the fate of the determinants of human derived antibiotic resistance (antibiotic resistance genes, ARG; and resistant bacteria, ARB) in the environment. ARGs and ARB are continuously released into soils and surface waters through treated and untreated sewage and the washout of agricultural fields. Here, they face a new and generally hostile environment, and their fate is strictly determined by their possibility to encounter a favourable ecological niche where to establish and, in case, proliferate. The fact that ARGs and bacteria resistant to synthetic and semisynthetic antibiotics are commonly found, and in some cases are relatively abundant, in natural settings, calls for a deeper understanding of the reasons underlying their unexpected success in natural, although anthropized, environments. Unfortunately, in open waters, a number of diverse and often contrasting ecological interactions, limiting factors, physical and chemical parameters are concomitantly acting on the allochthonous ARB and on their ARGs, making the study of their fate much more complex than in classical medical or veterinary settings. The interactions between the resident communities and the introduced resistances have been generally understudied in comparison to the microbiological and the genetic processes behind the selection of resistances, but a consensus on their importance has lately been reached by the research community, leading to official recognitions by the WHO, the European Union, and by a number of national governments. This presentation summarize the results of a number of experimental studies and in situ surveys focusing on the factors determining the fate of ARGs in surface waters, introducing an ecological approach to the analysis of the results. |
| Source | HEARD2018 - Halting Antimicrobial Resistance Dissemination in Aquatic Environments, Ascona, Svizzera, 16-19 settembre 2018 |
| Keywords | ecological theoryantibiotic resistancesurface watermicrobiomeresistomewastewater |
| Year | 2018 |
| Type | Presentazione |
| Authors | Corno Gianluca |
| Text | 399613 2018 ecological theory antibiotic resistance surface water microbiome resistome wastewater Ecological theory and the fate of resistances in surface waters Corno Gianluca ISE Ecology plays a crucial, although generally underestimated, role in determining the fate of the determinants of human derived antibiotic resistance antibiotic resistance genes, ARG; and resistant bacteria, ARB in the environment. ARGs and ARB are continuously released into soils and surface waters through treated and untreated sewage and the washout of agricultural fields. Here, they face a new and generally hostile environment, and their fate is strictly determined by their possibility to encounter a favourable ecological niche where to establish and, in case, proliferate. The fact that ARGs and bacteria resistant to synthetic and semisynthetic antibiotics are commonly found, and in some cases are relatively abundant, in natural settings, calls for a deeper understanding of the reasons underlying their unexpected success in natural, although anthropized, environments. Unfortunately, in open waters, a number of diverse and often contrasting ecological interactions, limiting factors, physical and chemical parameters are concomitantly acting on the allochthonous ARB and on their ARGs, making the study of their fate much more complex than in classical medical or veterinary settings. The interactions between the resident communities and the introduced resistances have been generally understudied in comparison to the microbiological and the genetic processes behind the selection of resistances, but a consensus on their importance has lately been reached by the research community, leading to official recognitions by the WHO, the European Union, and by a number of national governments. This presentation summarize the results of a number of experimental studies and in situ surveys focusing on the factors determining the fate of ARGs in surface waters, introducing an ecological approach to the analysis of the results. Preprint HEARD2018 Halting Antimicrobial Resistance Dissemination in Aquatic Environments Ascona, Svizzera 16 19 settembre 2018 Internazionale Su invito PPT 2018_PPR_Corno_Heard18.pdf Presentazione gianluca.corno CORNO GIANLUCA |
