| Title | Effluents of wastewater treatment plants promote the rapid stabilization of the antibiotic resistome in receiving freshwater bodies |
| Abstract | Treated wastewater discharged into the environment acts as a disturbance of the natural microbial communities in terms of taxonomic composition and of functional gene pool, including antibiotic resistance genes. We tested whether stochastic and heterogeneous site-specific trajectories or generalities, potentially driven by deterministic processes, control the fate of allochthonous bacteria from anthropogenic sources and the persistence of their functional traits in freshwater. Finding generalities would allow the identification of wastewater treatments that could be effective in abating determinants of antibiotic resistance. We analysed the short-term response of native bacterial communities in waters exposed to the disturbance of wastewater at different dilutions, using a metagenomic approach that revealed both microbial community composition and the scope and abundance of the resistome that can pose indirect risks to human health. We found that the taxonomic composition of the communities after the disturbance was driven by case-specific stochastic processes, whereas the resistome had a deterministic trajectory, rapidly stabilising its functional traits with higher proportions of wastewater effluents, regardless of differences in taxonomic composition, richness of antibiotic resistance genes and of bacterial taxa, phenotypic features of the bacterial communities, and type of wastewater treatment. The observed deterministic proliferation of resistomes in freshwater bodies receiving wastewater effluents, suggests that this process may contribute to the global propagation of antibiotic resistance, and thus calls for new legislations promoting alternative tertiary treatments for the wastewater reuse, and targeting bacterial functional traits and not only bacterial abundances. |
| Source | Water research (Oxf.) 158, pp. 72–81 |
| Keywords | antibiotic resistome |
| Journal | Water research (Oxf.) |
| Editor | Pergamon Press., New York, Regno Unito |
| Year | 2019 |
| Type | Articolo in rivista |
| DOI | 10.1016/j.watres.2019.04.031 |
| Authors | Gianluca Corno; Ying Yang; Ester M. Eckert; Diego Fontaneto; Antonino Fiorentino; Silvia Galafassi; Tong Zhang; Andrea Di Cesare |
| Text | 402304 2019 10.1016/j.watres.2019.04.031 ISI Web of Science WOS WOS 000470047700007 Scopus 2 s2.0 85064805073 antibiotic resistome Effluents of wastewater treatment plants promote the rapid stabilization of the antibiotic resistome in receiving freshwater bodies Gianluca Corno; Ying Yang; Ester M. Eckert; Diego Fontaneto; Antonino Fiorentino; Silvia Galafassi; Tong Zhang; Andrea Di Cesare a Microbial Ecology Group, Water Research Institute National Research Council CNR IRSA , Largo Tonolli 50, 28922, Verbania, Italy b School of Marine Sciences, Sun Yat Sen University, Xingang Xi Road 135, 510275, Guangzhou, China c Environmental Biotechnology Laboratory, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China Treated wastewater discharged into the environment acts as a disturbance of the natural microbial communities in terms of taxonomic composition and of functional gene pool, including antibiotic resistance genes. We tested whether stochastic and heterogeneous site specific trajectories or generalities, potentially driven by deterministic processes, control the fate of allochthonous bacteria from anthropogenic sources and the persistence of their functional traits in freshwater. Finding generalities would allow the identification of wastewater treatments that could be effective in abating determinants of antibiotic resistance. We analysed the short term response of native bacterial communities in waters exposed to the disturbance of wastewater at different dilutions, using a metagenomic approach that revealed both microbial community composition and the scope and abundance of the resistome that can pose indirect risks to human health. We found that the taxonomic composition of the communities after the disturbance was driven by case specific stochastic processes, whereas the resistome had a deterministic trajectory, rapidly stabilising its functional traits with higher proportions of wastewater effluents, regardless of differences in taxonomic composition, richness of antibiotic resistance genes and of bacterial taxa, phenotypic features of the bacterial communities, and type of wastewater treatment. The observed deterministic proliferation of resistomes in freshwater bodies receiving wastewater effluents, suggests that this process may contribute to the global propagation of antibiotic resistance, and thus calls for new legislations promoting alternative tertiary treatments for the wastewater reuse, and targeting bacterial functional traits and not only bacterial abundances. 158 Published version https //www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0043135419303392 via%3Dihub corno 2019_WatRes_Corno et al.pdf Articolo in rivista Pergamon Press. 0043 1354 Water research Oxf. Water research Oxf. Water res. Oxf. Water research. Oxf. FIORENTINO ANTONINO silvia.galafassi GALAFASSI SILVIA gianluca.corno CORNO GIANLUCA diego.fontaneto FONTANETO DIEGO andrea.dicesare DI CESARE ANDREA estermaria.eckert ECKERT ESTER MARIA |
