Antibiotic-manufacturing sites are hot-spots for the release and spread of antibiotic resistance genes and mobile genetic elements in receiving aquatic environments

González-Plaza, Juan José; Blau, Khald; Milaković, Milena; Jurina, Tamara; Smalla, Kornelia; Udiković-Kolić, Nikolina

doi:10.1016/j.envint.2019.04.007

Cited by 66 publications

(46 citation statements)

References 65 publications

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“…Currently, there are limited legal or economic incentives for subcontracted producers (#3) to act in order to improve the situation regarding industrial antibiotics pollution. Recent initiatives by the pharmaceutical industry to address pollution indicate that the need to change is recognised primarily among some research-based companies (#1) [13, 25] but the economic costs involved disincentivize all producers from voluntary change – as evidenced by the fact that cases of substantial pollution are revealed regularly [10, 26]. Obvious costs of environmentally improved antibiotics production relate to more extensive efforts to avoid contamination of wastewater in the first place or to install effective treatment (#6).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This probably requires national and international political action by high-income consumer states (#12-#14, #30), but once that ball is set in motion, incentives for institutional actors to assist and press industry actors and producer country institutions will likely follow. What could be such a starting point are the discharge limits for 111 antibiotics we proposed in late 2015 [26]. These were immediately highlighted in the British AMR review [38] and later adopted as voluntary target concentrations by many leading antibiotic manufacturers [13] and they have also become the basis for the proposed Indian regulation [15].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Managing pollution from antibiotics manufacturing: charting actors, incentives and disincentives

2019

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BackgroundEmissions of high concentrations of antibiotics from manufacturing sites select for resistant bacteria and may contribute to the emergence of new forms of resistance in pathogens. Many scientists, industry, policy makers and other stakeholders recognize such pollution as an unnecessary and unacceptable risk to global public health. An attempt to assess and reduce such discharges, however, quickly meets with complex realities that need to be understood to identify effective ways to move forward. This paper charts relevant key actor-types, their main stakes and interests, incentives that can motivate them to act to improve the situation, as well as disincentives that may undermine such motivation.MethodsThe actor types and their respective interests have been identified using research literature, publicly available documents, websites, and the knowledge of the authors.ResultsThirty-three different actor-types were identified, representing e.g. commercial actors, public agencies, states and international institutions. These are in complex ways connected by interests that sometimes may conflict and sometimes pull in the same direction. Some actor types can act to create incentives and disincentives for others in this area.ConclusionsThe analysis demonstrates and clarifies the challenges in addressing industrial emissions of antibiotics, notably the complexity of the relations between different types of actors, their international dependency and the need for transparency. The analysis however also suggests possible ways of initiating incentive-chains to eventually improve the prospects of motivating industry to reduce emissions. High-resource consumer states, especially in multinational cooperation, hold a key position to initiate such chains.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Managing pollution from antibiotics manufacturing: charting actors, incentives and disincentives

2019

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“…The pharmaceutical industry, aquaculture, and wastewater treatment plants are among the significant anthropogenic sources and drivers of ARGs in the environment. However, to what extent these sources contribute to the selection of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is still underexplored [ [35] , [36] , [37] ]. Recently few studies have shown that pharmaceutical industry effluent and wastewater discharge alters the microbial community and antibiotic richness in receiving water bodies [ 32 , 34 , 38 ].…”

Section: Critical Knowledge Gaps Associated With Environmental Antimimentioning

confidence: 99%

Antibiotic resistance: Global health crisis and metagenomics

Yadav

Kapley

2021

Biotechnology Reports

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Highlights Antimicrobial resistance is global risk to both humans & environment health. Aquatic system serves as hotspot for dissemination of AMR. Metagenomics can be used for monitoring abundance of ARGs in environment. Application of metagenomics has potential to yield novel secondary metabolites having antimicrobial potential.

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“…Natural environments are described as the origins and reservoirs of antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs) [3]. Recent studies primarily focused on microbial communities and their ARGs in a wide range of human-influenced environments such as agricultural farmland, crop plants, food production systems, and wastewater treatment plants [4][5][6][7]. However, to fully understand the evolution, emergence and spread of antimicrobial resistance, it is crucial to also study natural systems that are not disturbed by anthropogenic factors.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Antimicrobial-specific response from resistance gene carriers studied in a natural, highly diverse microbiome

et al. 2021

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Background Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a major threat to public health. Microorganisms equipped with AMR genes are suggested to have partially emerged from natural habitats; however, this hypothesis remains inconclusive so far. To understand the consequences of the introduction of exogenic antimicrobials into natural environments, we exposed lichen thalli of Peltigera polydactylon, which represent defined, highly diverse miniature ecosystems, to clinical (colistin, tetracycline), and non-clinical (glyphosate, alkylpyrazine) antimicrobials. We studied microbiome responses by analysing DNA- and RNA-based amplicon libraries and metagenomic datasets. Results The analyzed samples consisted of the thallus-forming fungus that is associated with cyanobacteria as well as other diverse and abundant bacterial communities (up to 108 16S rRNA gene copies ng-1 DNA) dominated by Alphaproteobacteria and Bacteroidetes. Moreover, the natural resistome of this meta-community encompassed 728 AMR genes spanning 30 antimicrobial classes. Following 10 days of exposure to the selected antimicrobials at four different concentrations (full therapeutic dosage and a gradient of sub-therapeutic dosages), we observed statistically significant, antimicrobial-specific shifts in the structure and function but not in bacterial abundances within the microbiota. We observed a relatively lower response after the exposure to the non-clinical compared to the clinical antimicrobial compounds. Furthermore, we observed specific bacterial responders, e.g., Pseudomonas and Burkholderia to clinical antimicrobials. Interestingly, the main positive responders naturally occur in low proportions in the lichen holobiont. Moreover, metagenomic recovery of the responders’ genomes suggested that they are all naturally equipped with specific genetic repertoires that allow them to thrive and bloom when exposed to antimicrobials. Of the responders, Sphingomonas, Pseudomonas, and Methylobacterium showed the highest potential. Conclusions Antimicrobial exposure resulted in a microbial dysbiosis due to a bloom of naturally low abundant taxa (positive responders) with specific AMR features. Overall, this study provides mechanistic insights into community-level responses of a native microbiota to antimicrobials and suggests novel strategies for AMR prediction and management.

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Antibiotic-manufacturing sites are hot-spots for the release and spread of antibiotic resistance genes and mobile genetic elements in receiving aquatic environments

Cited by 66 publications

References 65 publications

Managing pollution from antibiotics manufacturing: charting actors, incentives and disincentives

Managing pollution from antibiotics manufacturing: charting actors, incentives and disincentives

Antibiotic resistance: Global health crisis and metagenomics

Antimicrobial-specific response from resistance gene carriers studied in a natural, highly diverse microbiome

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