Evidence for wastewaters as environments where mobile antibiotic resistance genes emerge
Journal article, 2023

The emergence and spread of mobile antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in pathogens have become a serious threat to global health. Still little is known about where ARGs gain mobility in the first place. Here, we aimed to collect evidence indicating where such initial mobilization events of clinically relevant ARGs may have occurred. We found that the majority of previously identified origin species did not carry the mobilizing elements that likely enabled intracellular mobility of the ARGs, suggesting a necessary interplay between different bacteria. Analyses of a broad range of metagenomes revealed that wastewaters and wastewater-impacted environments had by far the highest abundance of both origin species and corresponding mobilizing elements. Most origin species were only occasionally detected in other environments. Co-occurrence of origin species and corresponding mobilizing elements were rare in human microbiota. Our results identify wastewaters and wastewater-impacted environments as plausible arenas for the initial mobilization of resistance genes.

Author

Fanny Berglund

University of Gothenburg

Stefan Ebmeyer

University of Gothenburg

Erik Kristiansson

Chalmers, Mathematical Sciences, Applied Mathematics and Statistics

University of Gothenburg

D. G. Joakim Larsson

University of Gothenburg

Communications Biology

23993642 (eISSN)

Vol. 6 1 321

Subject Categories

Botany

Microbiology

Zoology

DOI

10.1038/s42003-023-04676-7

PubMed

36966231

More information

Latest update

4/11/2023