Abundance of antibiotic resistance genes and their association with bacterial communities in activated sludge of wastewater treatment plants: Geographical distribution and network analysis  

作　　者：Haihan Zhang Huiyan He Shengnan Chen Tinglin Huang Kuanyu Lu Zhonghui Zhang Rong Wang Xueyao Zhang Hailong Li 

机构地区：[1]Key Laboratory of Northwest Resource, Environment and Ecology, MOE, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology [2]Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Environmental Engineering, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology [3]Xi'an Environmental Monitoring Center [4]Research Institute of Applied Biology, Shanxi University

出　　处：《Journal of Environmental Sciences》2019年第8期24-38,共15页环境科学学报（英文版）

基　　金：supported by the International Science and Technology Cooperation Program(No.2018KW-011);the National Key Research and Development Program of China(No.2016YFC0400706);the grant from "Young Outstanding Talents" in Universities of Shaanxi Province;support from the "Yanta Outstanding Youth Scholar" project from Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology(XAUAT)

摘　　要：Wastewater treatment plants(WWTPs) are deemed reservoirs of antibiotic resistance genes(ARGs). Bacterial phylogeny can shape the resistome in activated sludge. However, the co-occurrence and interaction of ARGs abundance and bacterial communities in different WWTPs located at continental scales are still not comprehensively understood. Here, we applied quantitative PCR and Miseq sequence approaches to unveil the changing profiles of ARGs(sul1, sul2, tet W, tet Q, tet X), int I1 gene, and bacterial communities in 18 geographically distributed WWTPs. The results showed that the average relative abundance of sul1 and sul2 genes were 2.08 × 10^(-1) and 1.32 × 10^(-1) copies/16 S rRNA copies, respectively. The abundance of tet W gene was positively correlated with the Shannon diversity index(H′), while both studied sul genes had significant positive relationship with the int I1 gene. The highest average relative abundances of sul1, sul2, tet X, and int I1 genes were found in south region and oxidation ditch system. Network analysis found that 16 bacterial genera co-occurred with tet W gene. Co-occurrence patterns were revealed distinct community interactions between aerobic/anoxic/aerobic and oxidation ditch systems. The redundancy analysis model plot of the bacterial community composition clearly demonstrated that the sludge samples were significant differences among those from the different geographical areas,and the shifts in bacterial community composition were correlated with ARGs. Together,these findings from the present study will highlight the potential risks of ARGs and bacterial populations carrying these ARGs, and enable the development of suitable technique to control the dissemination of ARGs from WWTPs into aquatic environments.Wastewater treatment plants(WWTPs) are deemed reservoirs of antibiotic resistance genes(ARGs). Bacterial phylogeny can shape the resistome in activated sludge. However, the co-occurrence and interaction of ARGs abundance and bacterial communities in different WWTPs located at continental scales are still not comprehensively understood. Here, we applied quantitative PCR and Miseq sequence approaches to unveil the changing profiles of ARGs(sul1, sul2, tet W, tet Q, tet X), int I1 gene, and bacterial communities in 18 geographically distributed WWTPs. The results showed that the average relative abundance of sul1 and sul2 genes were 2.08 × 10^(-1) and 1.32 × 10^(-1) copies/16 S rRNA copies, respectively. The abundance of tet W gene was positively correlated with the Shannon diversity index(H′), while both studied sul genes had significant positive relationship with the int I1 gene. The highest average relative abundances of sul1, sul2, tet X, and int I1 genes were found in south region and oxidation ditch system. Network analysis found that 16 bacterial genera co-occurred with tet W gene. Co-occurrence patterns were revealed distinct community interactions between aerobic/anoxic/aerobic and oxidation ditch systems. The redundancy analysis model plot of the bacterial community composition clearly demonstrated that the sludge samples were significant differences among those from the different geographical areas,and the shifts in bacterial community composition were correlated with ARGs. Together,these findings from the present study will highlight the potential risks of ARGs and bacterial populations carrying these ARGs, and enable the development of suitable technique to control the dissemination of ARGs from WWTPs into aquatic environments.

关 键 词：Antibiotic resistance GENES ACTIVATE SLUDGE BACTERIAL community Network analysis Mobile genetic elements 

分 类 号：X[环境科学与工程]