Dissemination and persistence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) along the wastewater-river continuum

Read, DS, Gweon, HS, Bowes, MJ, Anjum, MF, Crook, DW, Chau, KK, Shaw, LP, Hubbard, A ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6668-9179, AbuOun, M, Tipper, HJ, Hoosdally, SJ, Bailey, MJ, Walker, AS, Stoesser, N and Consortium, R, 2024. Dissemination and persistence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) along the wastewater-river continuum. Water Research, 264: 122204. ISSN 0043-1354

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Abstract

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global health hazard. Although clinical and agricultural environments are well-established contributors to the evolution and dissemination of AMR, research on wastewater treatment works (WwTWs) has highlighted their potential role as disseminators of AMR in freshwater environments. Using metagenomic sequencing and analysis, we investigated the changes in resistomes and associated mobile genetic elements within untreated wastewater influents and treated effluents of five WwTWs, and sediments collected from corresponding river environments in Oxfordshire, UK, across three seasonal periods within a year. Our analysis demonstrated a high diversity and abundance of antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs) in untreated wastewater influents, reflecting the varied anthropogenic and environmental origins of wastewater. WwTWs effectively reduced AMR in the final effluent, with an average 87% reduction in normalised ARG abundance and an average 63% reduction in richness. However, wastewater effluents significantly impacted the antimicrobial resistome of the receiving rivers, with an average 543% increase in ARG abundance and a 164% increase in richness from upstream sediments to downstream sediments. The normalised abundance of the human gut-associated bacteriophage crAssphage was highly associated with both ARG abundance and richness. We observed seasonal variation in the resistome of raw influent which was not found in the effluent-receiving sediments. We illustrate the potential of WwTWs as focal points for disseminating ARGs and resistance-selecting chemicals, contributing to the elevation of environmental AMR. Our study emphasises the need for a comprehensive understanding of the anthropogenic impacts on AMR evolution and dissemination in wastewater and river environments, informing efforts to mitigate this growing public health crisis.

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	Water Research
Creators:	Read, D.S., Gweon, H.S., Bowes, M.J., Anjum, M.F., Crook, D.W., Chau, K.K., Shaw, L.P., Hubbard, A., AbuOun, M., Tipper, H.J., Hoosdally, S.J., Bailey, M.J., Walker, A.S., Stoesser, N. and Consortium, R.
Publisher:	Elsevier
Date:	15 October 2024
Volume:	264
ISSN:	0043-1354
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.1016/j.watres.2024.122204 DOI S0043135424011035 Publisher Item Identifier 2185130 Other
Rights:	This accepted manuscript is shared under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International license.
Divisions:	Schools > School of Science and Technology
Record created by:	Melissa Cornwell
Date Added:	19 Aug 2024 08:18
Last Modified:	19 Aug 2024 08:18
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/52034

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