Shahid Umama, Hooi Suet Li, Lim Shu Yong, Mohd Aris Alijah, Khor Bee Chin, Ayub Qasim, Tan Hock Siew
School of Science, Monash University Malaysia, Bandar Sunway, Selangor, 47500, Malaysia.
Monash University Malaysia Genomics Platform, Bandar Sunway, Selangor Darul Ehsan, 47500, Malaysia.
Curr Genet. 2024 Dec 26;71(1):1. doi: 10.1007/s00294-024-01305-6.
Wastewater is a reservoir of pathogens and hotspots for disseminating antibiotic resistance genes across species. The metagenomic surveillance of wastewater provides insight into the native microbial community, antibiotic-resistance genes (ARGs) and mobile genetic elements. t. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused wider dissemination of ARGs and resistant bacteria in wastewater. Although immensely significant, no research has been performed on the Malaysian wastewater microbial community and ARGs or their correlation with COVID-19 infections. This study utilised a 16S metagenomics approach to characterise the microbial community in Malaysian wastewater during high and low-case phases of the pandemic. Bacteria belonging to Bacteriodales, Bacillales, Actinomycetales and opportunistic pathogens-Arcobacters, Flavobacteria, and Campylobacterales, Neisseriales, were enriched during higher COVID-19 pandemic (active cases). Additionally, copy number profiling of ARGs in water samples showed the prevalence of elements conferring resistance to antibiotics like sulphonamides, cephalosporins, and colistin. The high prevalence of intI1 and other ion-based transporters in samples highlights an extensive risk of horizontal gene transfer to previously susceptible species. Our study emphasises the importance of wastewater surveillance in understanding microbial community dynamics and ARG dissemination, particularly during public health crises like the COVID-19 pandemic.
废水是病原体的储存库，也是跨物种传播抗生素耐药基因的热点。对废水进行宏基因组监测有助于深入了解原生微生物群落、抗生素耐药基因（ARG）和可移动遗传元件。2019年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）大流行导致ARG和耐药细菌在废水中更广泛地传播。尽管意义重大，但尚未对马来西亚废水微生物群落和ARG或它们与COVID-19感染的相关性进行研究。本研究采用16S宏基因组学方法，对大流行高病例期和低病例期马来西亚废水的微生物群落进行特征分析。在COVID-19大流行（活跃病例）高峰期，属于拟杆菌目、芽孢杆菌目、放线菌目以及机会性病原体——弓形杆菌、黄杆菌和弯曲杆菌目、奈瑟菌目的细菌数量增加。此外，水样中ARG的拷贝数分析表明，赋予对磺胺类、头孢菌素类和黏菌素等抗生素耐药性的元件普遍存在。样本中intI1和其他离子型转运蛋白的高流行率凸显了水平基因转移到先前易感物种的广泛风险。我们的研究强调了废水监测在了解微生物群落动态和ARG传播方面的重要性，特别是在像COVID-19大流行这样的公共卫生危机期间。
