Baraka Vito, Andersson Tilde, Makenga Geofrey, Francis Filbert, Minja Daniel T R, Overballe-Petersen Sören, Tang Man-Hung Eric, Fuursted Kurt, Lood Rolf
Tanga Centre, National Institute for Medical Research, Tanga P.O. Box 5004, Tanzania.
Department of Clinical Sciences, Lund University, 221 84 Lund, Sweden.
Microorganisms. 2023 Oct 4;11(10):2490. doi: 10.3390/microorganisms11102490.
The emergence of antibiotic resistance is a global health concern. Therefore, understanding the mechanisms of its spread is crucial for implementing evidence-based strategies to tackle resistance in the context of the One Health approach. In developing countries where sanitation systems and access to clean and safe water are still major challenges, contamination may introduce bacteria and bacteriophages harboring antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) into the environment. This contamination can increase the risk of exposure and community transmission of ARGs and infectious pathogens. However, there is a paucity of information on the mechanisms of bacteriophage-mediated spread of ARGs and patterns through the environment. Here, we deploy Droplet Digital PCR (ddPCR) and metagenomics approaches to analyze the abundance of ARGs and bacterial pathogens disseminated through clean and wastewater systems. We detected a relatively less-studied and rare human zoonotic pathogen, , known to spread through fecal--oral contamination, similarly to . Several antibiotic resistance genes were identified in both bacterial and bacteriophage fractions from water sources. Using metagenomics, we detected several resistance genes related to tetracyclines and beta-lactams in all the samples. Environmental samples from outlet wastewater had a high diversity of ARGs and contained high levels of . Other identified resistance profiles included , , and . Specifically, we demonstrated that is enriched in the bacteriophage fraction from wastewater. In general, however, the bacterial community has a significantly higher abundance of resistance genes compared to the bacteriophage population. In conclusion, the study highlights the need to implement environmental monitoring of clean and wastewater to inform the risk of infectious disease outbreaks and the spread of antibiotic resistance in the context of One Health.
抗生素耐药性的出现是一个全球健康问题。因此，了解其传播机制对于在“同一健康”方法的背景下实施基于证据的策略来应对耐药性至关重要。在卫生系统以及获得清洁安全饮用水仍是重大挑战的发展中国家，污染可能会将携带抗生素耐药基因（ARGs）的细菌和噬菌体引入环境。这种污染会增加ARGs和传染性病原体的暴露风险及社区传播风险。然而，关于噬菌体介导的ARGs在环境中的传播机制和模式的信息却很匮乏。在此，我们采用液滴数字PCR（ddPCR）和宏基因组学方法来分析通过清洁水和废水系统传播的ARGs及细菌病原体的丰度。我们检测到一种相对较少研究且罕见的人类人畜共患病原体，已知其通过粪口污染传播，与[此处原文缺失病原体名称]类似。在水源的细菌和噬菌体组分中均鉴定出了几种抗生素耐药基因。利用宏基因组学，我们在所有样本中检测到了几种与四环素和β-内酰胺类相关的耐药基因。来自污水处理厂出水的环境样本中ARGs多样性高且含有高水平的[此处原文缺失相关物质名称]。其他鉴定出的耐药谱包括[此处原文缺失相关耐药谱内容]、[此处原文缺失相关耐药谱内容]和[此处原文缺失相关耐药谱内容]。具体而言，我们证明了[此处原文缺失相关物质名称]在污水中的噬菌体组分中富集。然而，总体而言，细菌群落中的耐药基因丰度明显高于噬菌体群体。总之，该研究强调了在“同一健康”背景下开展清洁水和废水环境监测以了解传染病爆发风险及抗生素耐药性传播情况的必要性。
