SCNU Environmental Research Institute, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Chemical Pollution and Environmental Safety & MOE Key Laboratory of Theoretical Chemistry of Environment, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510006, China; School of Environment, South China Normal University, University Town, Guangzhou 510006, China.
SCNU Environmental Research Institute, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Chemical Pollution and Environmental Safety & MOE Key Laboratory of Theoretical Chemistry of Environment, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510006, China; School of Environment, South China Normal University, University Town, Guangzhou 510006, China.
Environ Int. 2023 Feb;172:107784. doi: 10.1016/j.envint.2023.107784. Epub 2023 Jan 30.
Antimicrobial resistance is recognized as one of the greatest public health concerns. It is becoming an increasingly threat during the COVID-19 pandemic due to increasing usage of antimicrobials, such as antibiotics and disinfectants, in healthcare facilities or public spaces. To explore the characteristics of airborne antibiotic resistome in public transport systems, we assessed distribution and health risks of airborne antibiotic resistome and microbiome in railway stations before and after the pandemic outbreak by culture-independent and culture-dependent metagenomic analysis. Results showed that the diversity of airborne antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) decreased following the pandemic, while the relative abundance of core ARGs increased. A total of 159 horizontally acquired ARGs, predominantly confering resistance to macrolides and aminoglycosides, were identified in the airborne bacteria and dust samples. Meanwhile, the abundance of horizontally acquired ARGs hosted by pathogens increased during the pandemic. A bloom of clinically important antibiotic (tigecycline and meropenem) resistant bacteria was found following the pandemic outbreak. 251 high-quality metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) were recovered from 27 metagenomes, and 86 genera and 125 species were classified. Relative abundance of ARG-carrying MAGs, taxonomically assigned to genus of Bacillus, Pseudomonas, Acinetobacter, and Staphylococcus, was found increased during the pandemic. Bayesian source tracking estimated that human skin and anthropogenic activities were presumptive resistome sources for the public transit air. Moreover, risk assessment based on resistome and microbiome data revealed elevated airborne health risks during the pandemic.
抗微生物药物耐药性被认为是最大的公共卫生关注点之一。由于在医疗保健设施或公共场所中越来越多地使用抗生素和消毒剂等抗微生物药物，因此在 COVID-19 大流行期间，它正成为一个日益严重的威胁。为了探索公共交通系统中空气传播抗生素耐药组的特征，我们通过非培养和培养依赖性宏基因组分析，评估了大流行爆发前后火车站空气中抗生素耐药组和微生物组的分布和健康风险。结果表明，大流行后空气中抗生素耐药基因（ARGs）的多样性降低，而核心 ARGs 的相对丰度增加。在空气细菌和灰尘样本中总共鉴定出 159 个水平获得的 ARGs，主要赋予对大环内酯类和氨基糖苷类的耐药性。同时，大流行期间，病原体携带的水平获得性 ARGs 的丰度增加。大流行后发现了临床上重要抗生素（替加环素和美罗培南）耐药细菌的激增。从 27 个宏基因组中回收了 251 个高质量宏基因组组装基因组（MAG），并对 86 个属和 125 个种进行了分类。大流行期间，携带 ARG 的 MAG 的相对丰度增加，其分类为芽孢杆菌属，假单胞菌属，不动杆菌属和葡萄球菌属。贝叶斯源追踪估计，人类皮肤和人为活动是公共交通空气的假定耐药组来源。此外，基于耐药组和微生物组数据的风险评估显示，大流行期间空气中的健康风险增加。
