Mapping antimicrobial resistance landscape at a city scale sewage network
Díaz-García, Clara (LABAQUA)
Sánchez-Osuna, Miquel (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Biotecnologia i de Biomedicina "Vicent Villar Palasí")
Serra-Compte, Albert (Cetaqua. Water Technology Centre)
Karakatsanidou, Ioanna (Cetaqua. Water Technology Centre)
Gómez-Sánchez, Inmaculada (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Biotecnologia i de Biomedicina "Vicent Villar Palasí")
Fidalgo, Berta (Parc Taulí Hospital Universitari. Institut d'Investigació i Innovació Parc Taulí (I3PT))
Barbuzana-Armas, César (LABAQUA)
Fittipaldi, Mariana (LABAQUA)
Rosselli, Riccardo (University of Alicante. Department of Physiology)
Vinyoles, Jordi (Aigües Sabadell)
González, Susana (Cetaqua. Water Technology Centre)
Quijada Pich, Oscar (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Biotecnologia i de Biomedicina "Vicent Villar Palasí")
Espasa, Mateu (Parc Taulí Hospital Universitari. Institut d'Investigació i Innovació Parc Taulí (I3PT))
Yáñez, M. Adela (LABAQUA)

Date:	2025
Abstract:	Wastewater is a valuable source for monitoring contaminants of biotic or abiotic origin. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has emerged as a public health threat that consists of the ability of microorganisms to resist the effects of antimicrobial compounds, rendering them very difficult or impossible to eradicate in case of infection. Considering the dissemination of antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs) to a wide number of ecosystems, there is a need for the identification of hotspots that concentrate antimicrobial resistance determinants. A comprehensive investigation conducted at a city-scale in Sabadell (Barcelona, Spain) has integrated both phenotypic and genotypic methodologies, including metagenomics and culture-based techniques coupled with whole-genome sequencing (WGS), to monitor ARG presence in seven different spots of the sewage system. Metagenomics approach identified 262 ARG variants across analyzed sampling sites, grouped into 15 resistance categories. The most prevalent ARGs were macrolides-lincosamides-class B streptogramins (MLS) (35. 1 %) and beta-lactams (28. 7 %), including carbapenems (5. 9 %) and cephalosporins (5. 3 %). MLS resistance featured dominant msr(E) and mph(E) genes, the most abundant ARGs in our study. ARGs conferring resistance to beta-lactam were dominated by blaOXA-464, blaOXA-491, and blaNPS. Key genes for carbapenem (blaOXA-372, blaKPC-2) and cephalosporin (blaOXA-10, blaOXA-1) resistance were identified. The hospital sector exhibited the highest relative abundance of ARGs, dominated by beta-lactams, MLS, and aminoglycosides. Wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) entrance points and residential areas displayed similar ARG profiles, while WWTP effluent and industrial zones had the lowest ARG levels. WWTP significantly reduced ARG presence (93. 3 %). The characterization of antibiotic-resistant bacterial isolates found that most abundant ARGs were predominantly plasmid-borne, favoring ARG spread across bacterial genera. This finding confirmed the significant role of plasmids in ARG dissemination, increasing both diversity and prevalence within waterborne bacterial communities. City-scale surveillance programs can play a pivotal role in guiding effective measures to reduce the dissemination of AMR and mitigate their environmental impact.
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, i la comunicació pública de l'obra, sempre que no sigui amb finalitats comercials, i sempre que es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original. No es permet la creació d'obres derivades.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Subject:	Antimicrobial resistance ; Wastewater ; Hospital effluents ; Metagenomics ; Epidemiological surveillance ; Whole genome sequencin
Published in:	Science of the total environment, Vol. 974 (April 2025) , art. 179127, ISSN 1879-1026

DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2025.179127

15 p, 8.5 MB

The record appears in these collections:
Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Health sciences and biosciences > Parc Taulí Research and Innovation Institute (I3PT
Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Health sciences and biosciences > Institut de Biotecnologia i de Biomedicina (IBB)
Articles > Research articles
Articles > Published articles