Environmental Biotechnology Laboratory, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong, China.
Graduate School at Shenzhen, Tsinghua University, Shenzhen, China.
Microbiome. 2017 Nov 28;5(1):154. doi: 10.1186/s40168-017-0369-0.
Excesses of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), which are regarded as emerging environmental pollutants, have been observed in various environments. The incidence of ARGs in drinking water causes potential risks to human health and receives more attention from the public. However, ARGs harbored in drinking water remain largely unexplored. In this study, we aimed at establishing an antibiotic resistome catalogue in drinking water samples from a wide range of regions and to explore the potential hosts of ARGs.
A catalogue of antibiotic resistome in drinking water was established, and the host-tracking of ARGs was conducted through a large-scale survey using metagenomic approach. The drinking water samples were collected at the point of use in 25 cities in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, South Africa, Singapore and the USA. In total, 181 ARG subtypes belonging to 16 ARG types were detected with an abundance range of 2.8 × 10 to 4.2 × 10 copies of ARG per cell. The highest abundance was found in northern China (Henan Province). Bacitracin, multidrug, aminoglycoside, sulfonamide, and beta-lactam resistance genes were dominant in drinking water. Of the drinking water samples tested, 84% had a higher ARG abundance than typical environmental ecosystems of sediment and soil. Metagenomic assembly-based host-tracking analysis identified Acidovorax, Acinetobacter, Aeromonas, Methylobacterium, Methyloversatilis, Mycobacterium, Polaromonas, and Pseudomonas as the hosts of ARGs. Moreover, potential horizontal transfer of ARGs in drinking water systems was proposed by network and Procrustes analyses.
The antibiotic resistome catalogue compiled using a large-scale survey provides a useful reference for future studies on the global surveillance and risk management of ARGs in drinking water. .
抗生素耐药基因（ARGs）被视为新兴的环境污染物，在各种环境中均有检出。饮用水中 ARGs 的存在给人类健康带来了潜在风险，因此受到了公众的更多关注。然而，饮用水中 ARGs 的情况在很大程度上仍未被探索。本研究旨在建立一个涵盖广泛地区饮用水样本的抗生素耐药组目录，并探索 ARGs 的潜在宿主。
建立了一个饮用水抗生素耐药组目录，并通过宏基因组学方法进行了大规模调查，以追踪 ARGs 的宿主。研究采集了来自中国大陆、香港、澳门、台湾、南非、新加坡和美国 25 个城市的使用点饮用水样本。共检测到 181 种 ARG 亚型，属于 16 种 ARG 类型，丰度范围为 2.8×10 到 4.2×10 个 ARG 拷贝/细胞。丰度最高的是中国北方（河南省）。在饮用水中，杆菌肽、多药、氨基糖苷类、磺胺类和β-内酰胺类耐药基因占主导地位。在所测试的饮用水样本中，84%的样本的 ARG 丰度高于典型的环境生态系统，如沉积物和土壤。基于宏基因组组装的宿主追踪分析确定了 Acidovorax、Acinetobacter、Aeromonas、Methylobacterium、Methyloversatilis、Mycobacterium、Polaromonas 和 Pseudomonas 是 ARGs 的宿主。此外，通过网络和 Procrustes 分析提出了饮用水系统中 ARGs 潜在的水平转移。
本研究通过大规模调查编制的抗生素耐药组目录为未来研究全球范围内饮用水中 ARGs 的监测和风险管理提供了有用的参考。
