Abundances of Clinically Relevant Antibiotic Resistance Genes and Bacterial Community Diversity in the Weihe River, China

Xiaojuan Wang, Jie Gu, Hua Gao, Xun Qian and Haichao Li
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Xiaojuan Wang: College of Natural Resources and Environment, Agriculture Key Laboratory of Plant Nutrition and Agri-Environment in Northwest China, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China
Jie Gu: College of Natural Resources and Environment, Agriculture Key Laboratory of Plant Nutrition and Agri-Environment in Northwest China, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China
Hua Gao: College of Natural Resources and Environment, Agriculture Key Laboratory of Plant Nutrition and Agri-Environment in Northwest China, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China
Xun Qian: College of Natural Resources and Environment, Agriculture Key Laboratory of Plant Nutrition and Agri-Environment in Northwest China, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China
Haichao Li: College of Natural Resources and Environment, Agriculture Key Laboratory of Plant Nutrition and Agri-Environment in Northwest China, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China

IJERPH, 2018, vol. 15, issue 4, 1-14

Abstract: The spread of antibiotic resistance genes in river systems is an emerging environmental issue due to their potential threat to aquatic ecosystems and public health. In this study, we used droplet digital polymerase chain reaction (ddPCR) to evaluate pollution with clinically relevant antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) at 13 monitoring sites along the main stream of the Weihe River in China. Six clinically relevant ARGs and a class I integron-integrase ( intI1 ) gene were analyzed using ddPCR, and the bacterial community was evaluated based on the bacterial 16S rRNA V3–V4 regions using MiSeq sequencing. The results indicated Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, Cyanobacteria, and Bacteroidetes as the dominant phyla in the water samples from the Weihe River. Higher abundances of bla TEM , strB , aadA , and intI1 genes (10 3 to 10 5 copies/mL) were detected in the surface water samples compared with the relatively low abundances of strA , mecA , and vanA genes (0–1.94 copies/mL). Eight bacterial genera were identified as possible hosts of the intI1 gene and three ARGs ( strA , strB , and aadA ) based on network analysis. The results suggested that the bacterial community structure and horizontal gene transfer were associated with the variations in ARGs.

Keywords: antibiotic resistance gene; bacterial community; droplet digital polymerase chain reaction (ddPCR); network analysis; Weihe River (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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