1. The relationship between water quality and the microbial virulome and resistome in urban streams in Brazil.
- Author
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Stehling, Eliana Guedes, Furlan, João Pedro Rueda, Lopes, Ralf, Chodkowski, John, Stopnisek, Nejc, Savazzi, Eduardo Angelino, and Shade, Ashley
- Subjects
WATER quality ,DRUG residues ,PSEUDOMONAS aeruginosa ,DRUG resistance in microorganisms ,MICROBIAL communities ,URBAN soils - Abstract
Urban streams that receive untreated domestic and hospital waste can transmit infectious diseases and spread drug residues, including antimicrobials, which can then increase the selection of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria. Here, water samples were collected from three different urban streams in the state of São Paulo, Brazil, to relate their range of Water Quality Indices (WQIs) to the diversity and composition of aquatic microbial taxa, virulence genes (virulome), and antimicrobial resistance determinants (resistome), all assessed using untargeted metagenome sequencing. There was a predominance of phyla Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, and Bacteroidetes in all samples, and Pseudomonas was the most abundant detected genus. Virulence genes associated with motility, adherence, and secretion systems were highly abundant and mainly associated with Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Furthermore, some opportunistic pathogenic genera had negative correlations with WQI. Many clinically relevant antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs) and efflux pump-encoding genes that confer resistance to critically important antimicrobials were detected. The highest relative abundances of ARGs were β-lactams and macrolide-lincosamide-streptogramin. No statistically supported relationship was detected between the abundance of virulome/resistome and collection type/WQI. On the other hand, total solids were a weak predictor of gene abundance patterns. These results provide insights into various microbial outcomes given urban stream quality and point to its ecological complexity. In addition, this study suggests potential consequences for human health as mediated by aquatic microbial communities responding to typical urban outputs. [Display omitted] • A predominance of phyla Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, and Bacteroidetes was found. • Pseudomonas genus and its virulence determinants were highly abundant. • Negative correlations between bacterial pathogenic genera and WQIs were identified. • Resistance genes to β-lactams and MLS showed the highest relative abundances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
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