Metagenomic insights into dissemination of antibiotic resistance across bacterial genera in wastewater treatment

The aim of this study was to evaluate the impacts of conventional wastewater treatment processes including secondary treatment and chlorination on the removal of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and antibiotic resistant bacteria (ARB), and to assess the association of ARGs with their potential hosts in each treatment process. The results showed chlorination with subinhibitory concentration (<8 mg/L) resulted in an increased ARB number in the disinfection effluent. qPCR analysis indicated secondary treatment increased relative abundance of ARGs in remaining bacteria whereas disinfection reduced the relative abundance of those genes effectively. Metagenomic analysis revealed a significant shift of dominating bacterial genera harboring ARGs. Along the treatment train, 48, 95 and 80 genera were identified to be the ARG carriers in primary effluent, secondary effluent, and disinfection effluent, respectively. It was also found that secondary treatment increased the diversity of potential ARG hosts while both secondary treatment and chlorination broadened the host range of some ARGs at the genus level, which may be attributed to the spread of antibiotic resistance across bacterial genera through horizontal transfer. This study highlights the growing concerns that wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) may disseminate ARGs by associating this effect to specific treatment stages and by correlating ARGs with their bacterial hosts. (C) 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

The study evaluated the impact of conventional wastewater treatment processes on the removal of antibiotic resistance genes and antibiotic resistant bacteria, finding that chlorination resulted in an increased number of ARB in disinfection effluent, while secondary treatment increased the relative abundance of ARGs. The metagenomic analysis revealed a significant shift in dominating bacterial genera harboring ARGs along the treatment train.