Pubblicazione scientifica

Overexpression of antibiotic resistance genes in hospital effluents over time

FILONE TECNOLOGICO	TEMA
produzione e raccolta

RIASSUNTO

Objectives: Effluents contain a diverse abundance of antibiotic resistance genes that augment the resistome of receiving aquatic environments. However, uncertainty remains regarding their temporal persistence, transcription and response to anthropogenic factors, such as antibiotic usage. We present a spatiotemporal study within a river catchment (River Cam, UK) that aims to determine the contribution of antibiotic resistance gene-containing effluents originating from sites of varying antibiotic usage to the receiving environment.

Methods: Gene abundance in effluents (municipal hospital and dairy farm) was compared against background samples of the receiving aquatic environment (i.e. the catchment source) to determine the resistome contribution of effluents. We used metagenomics and metatranscriptomics to correlate DNA and RNA abundance and identified differentially regulated gene transcripts.

Results: We found that mean antibiotic resistance gene and transcript abundances were correlated for both hospital (ρ = 0.9, two-tailed P <0.0001) and farm (ρ = 0.5, two-tailed P <0.0001) effluents and that two β-lactam resistance genes (blaGES and blaOXA) were overexpressed in all hospital effluent samples. High β-lactam resistance gene transcript abundance was related to hospital antibiotic usage over time and hospital effluents contained antibiotic residues.

Conclusions: We conclude that effluents contribute high levels of antibiotic resistance genes to the aquatic environment; these genes are expressed at significant levels and are possibly related to the level of antibiotic usage at the effluent source.

DATA

Data di pubblicazione: 08/02/2017

AUTORI

ROWE WILL P M
BAKER-AUSTIN CRAIG
VERNER-JEFFREYS DAVID W
RYAN JIM J
MICALLEF CHRISTIANNE
MASKELL DUNCAN J
PEARCE GARETH P

ENTE DI AFFERENZA

Pharmacy Department Addenbrooke’s Hospital Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust Cambridge UK
DEPT VETERINARY MEDICINE UNIV CAMBRIDGE CAMBRIDGE UK
INST INTEGRATIVE BIOLOGY UNIV LIVERPOOL LIVERPOOL UK
CTR ENVIRONMENT FISHERIES & AQUACULTURE SCIENCE WEYMOUTH UK
ENVIRONMENT HEALTH & SAFETY GLAXOSMITHKLINE WARE UK

RIVISTA

Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, 72(6), 1617-1623

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