Premium
Fates of antibiotic resistance genes in a distributed swine wastewater treatment plant
Author(s) -
Yuan QingBin,
Zhai YiFan,
Mao BuYun,
Schwarz Cory,
Hu Nan
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
water environment research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.356
H-Index - 73
eISSN - 1554-7531
pISSN - 1061-4303
DOI - 10.1002/wer.1125
Subject(s) - wastewater , effluent , nutrient , biology , 16s ribosomal rna , microbial population biology , sewage treatment , abundance (ecology) , bacteria , relative species abundance , microbiology and biotechnology , antibiotic resistance , bacteroidetes , antibiotics , veterinary medicine , ecology , environmental engineering , environmental science , genetics , medicine
This study explores the prevalence, emission, and reduction of five ARG s ( sul I, tet A, mph B, qnr D, and mcr ‐1) and integron ( int I) through a distributed swine wastewater purification facility and the effluent‐receiving environment. Typical metal resistance genes ( MRG s), pathogenic bacterial indicators, the bacterial community, and wastewater properties were also explored to determine their effects on the fates of ARG s. Results indicated that the purification process could hardly effectively remove ARG s’ prevalence. 3.1 × 10 4 –7.1 × 10 8 copies/L were present after purification, and 4%–57% of them persisted in the subsequent creek and adjacent soil. 16S rRNA sequencing suggested that the discharge of wastewater significantly changed the bacterial community in receiving creek and soil. Molecular ecological networks analysis detected the wide co‐occurrence among ARG s, MRG s, and PBG s, which could further facilitate the propagation of antibiotic resistance. ARG incidence and specific bacterial genera were closely correlated, suggesting an extensive hosting relationship. Redundancy analyses showed wastewater organics and nutrients showed positive correlation to most ARG s’ abundance, but negatively correlated to their relative abundance. Practitioner points Fate of five ARG s and int I was studied in a swine wastewater treatment system. The treatment process could not effectively reduce ARG s’ abundance. ARG s and pathogens in wastewater were transferred to the receiving creek and soil. The network analysis found wide co‐occurrence among ARG s, metal resistance genes, and pathogens. Wastewater nutrients positively correlated to ARG 's abundance but negatively correlated to their relative abundance.