Beta-lactam resistance development during the treatment processes of municipal wastewater treatment plants. (October 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Stachurová, Tereza; Piková, Hana; Bartas, Martin; Semerád, Jaroslav; Svobodová, Kateřina; Malachová, Kateřina
• Is Part Of: Chemosphere. Volume 280(2021)
• Publication Date: 2021-10
• Subjects: Antibiotic resistance -- Beta-lactam resistance genes -- blaNDM-1 -- blaTEM -- Wastewater treatment plant; Pollution -- Periodicals; Pollution -- Physiological effect -- Periodicals; Environmental sciences -- Periodicals; Atmospheric chemistry -- Periodicals; 551.511
• DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.130749
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0045-6535

Abstract

Abstract: This work monitored the effect of a municipal and a village wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) technology on the fate of beta-lactam resistance genes in bacterial populations in different phases of the wastewater treatment process. In case of the municipal WWTP1, the bacteria possessing a high ampicillin resistance (minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) values of 20 mg/mL) accumulated in the sedimentation tank, which was accompanied with a higher concentration of ampicillin in the wastewater samples (28.09 ng/L) and an increase in the relative abundance of the bla TEM gene in the bacterial population. However, an opposite trend was revealed with the bla NDM-1 gene, making the sedimentation processes of WWTP1 crucial only for the accumulation of the bla TEM gene. Similarly, the comparison with the WWTP2 showed that the accumulation of the ampicillin resistance in bacterial population probably depended on the WWTP technology and wastewater composition. Out of the four tested resistance genes ( bla TEM, bla KPC, bla NDM-1, and bla OXA-48), bla TEM and bla NDM-1 genes were the only two detected in this study. According to NGS analysis of bacterial 16 S rRNA gene, Gammaproteobacteria dominated the ampicillin-resistant bacteria of the WWTP sedimentation tanks. Their relative abundance in the bacterial population also increased during the sedimentation processes in WWTP1. It could indicate the role of the bacterial taxon in ampicillin resistance accumulation in this WWTP and show that only 9.29% of the original bacterial population from the nitrification tank is involved in the documented shifts in beta-lactam resistance of the bacterial population. Graphical abstract: Image 1 Highlights: The secondary sedimentation phase of WWTP treatment plays a part in the selection of high beta-lactam resistance bacteria. Shifts in the relative abundance of Gammaproteobacteria suggest association with the accumulation of ampicillin resistance. This is the first detection of the bla NDM-1 gene in the Czech wastewater environment.