Climate Change Cluster, University of Technology Sydney, Australia.
School of Life Sciences, University of Technology Sydney, Australia.
Water Res. 2019 Dec 15;167:115081. doi: 10.1016/j.watres.2019.115081. Epub 2019 Sep 12.
To reveal the occurrence and mechanisms for dispersal of antibiotic resistance (AbR) among the microbial assemblages inhabiting impacted coastal environments, we performed a weekly, two-year duration time-series study at two urban beaches between 2014 and 2016. We combined quantitative PCR and multiplex PCR/reverse line blot techniques to track patterns in the occurrence of 31 AbR genes, including genes that confer resistance to antibiotics that are critically important antimicrobials for human medicine. Patterns in the abundance of these genes were linked to specific microbial groups and environmental parameters by coupling qPCR and 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing data with network analysis. Up to 100-fold increases in the abundance of several AbR genes, including genes conferring resistance to quinolones, trimethoprim, sulfonamides, tetracycline, vancomycin and carbapenems, occurred following storm-water and modelled wet-weather sewer overflow events. The abundance of AbR genes strongly and significantly correlated with several potentially pathogenic bacterial OTUs regularly associated with wastewater infrastructure, such as Arcobacter, Acinetobacter, Aeromonas and Cloacibacterium. These high-resolution observations provide clear links between storm-water discharge and sewer overflow events and the occurrence of AbR in the coastal microbial assemblages inhabiting urban beaches, highlighting a direct mechanism for potentially significant AbR exposure risks to humans.
为了揭示受污染沿海环境中栖息的微生物群落中抗生素耐药性（AbR）的传播发生和机制，我们在 2014 年至 2016 年期间在两个城市海滩进行了为期两年、每周一次的时间序列研究。我们结合定量 PCR 和多重 PCR/反向线印迹技术来跟踪 31 种 AbR 基因的发生模式，包括对抗生素的耐药基因，这些抗生素是人类医学中至关重要的抗菌药物。通过将 qPCR 和 16S rRNA 扩增子测序数据与网络分析相结合，将这些基因丰度的模式与特定的微生物群和环境参数联系起来。在暴雨水和模拟的雨天污水溢流事件后，几种 AbR 基因的丰度增加了多达 100 倍，包括对喹诺酮类、甲氧苄啶、磺胺类、四环素、万古霉素和碳青霉烯类抗生素的耐药基因。AbR 基因的丰度与经常与废水基础设施相关的几种潜在致病性细菌 OTU（如弧菌、不动杆菌、气单胞菌和阴沟肠杆菌）强烈且显著相关。这些高分辨率的观察结果清楚地表明，暴雨水排放和污水溢流事件与城市海滩栖息的沿海微生物群落中 AbR 的发生之间存在直接联系，突出了人类面临潜在重大 AbR 暴露风险的直接机制。
