Comparison of Microbiomes and Resistomes in Two Karst Groundwater Sites in Chongqing, China

Abstract

Karst groundwater is an important water resource, as it accounts for about 15% of the total landscape of the earth and supplies 20% of potable water worldwide. The antibiotics resistance is an emerging global concern, and antibiotics residual and increase of antibiotic resistance genes represent serious global concerns and emerging pollutants. There is no report on the antibiotic resistance genes in groundwater. To survey resistome and microbiome in karst groundwater, two karst water samples were chosen for metagenome and metatranscriptome study, namely the 37th spring (C) and Dongcao spring (R) in Beibei, Chongqing, China. The two sites differ significantly in sulfur content, geochemical parameters, community structure, antibiotic resistance genes, and mechanisms, and these results may be influenced by anthropogenic activities. Combining with the Antibiotic Resistance Genes Database, three types of resistance genes baca, sul2, sul1 are present in R and C, and ant3ia, ermc, tetpa are also present in R. The number of all resistance genes in R was more than C, and Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Nitrospirae are the main sources of antibiotic resistance genes. In addition, a large number of genes related to antibiotic gene transmission and drug resistance were found in both samples. Karst groundwater is an important source of drinking water and a possible venue for the transmission of microbial antibiotic resistance genes. However, few studies addressed this issue in karst groundwater, despite its widespread and great importance to global ecosystem. Karst groundwater is a reservoir for antibiotic resistant genes, and measures to control these resistant genes are urgently needed.

Targeting current and future threats: recent methodological trends in environmental antimicrobial resistance research and their relationships to risk assessment

“…The discrepancy was due to a shortfall in the stormwater compartment. More specifically, the groundwater, 16–35 livestock manure, 36–55 drinking water, 56–75 and wastewater 25,57,76–93 compartments each included the target number of 20 documents, while the stormwater ( n = 12) 26,94–104 compartment did not have enough documents meeting our criteria (Fig. 1).…”

“…The discrepancy was due to a shortfall in the stormwater compartment. More specifically, the groundwater, [16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35] livestock manure, [36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55] drinking water, [56][57][58][59][60][61][62][63][64][65][66][67]…”

Molecular Diagnostic Tools Applied for Assessing Microbial Water Quality

“…Antibiotic residues can enter aquatic environments via, e.g., the discharge of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) and agricultural runoff (containing livestock manure and organic fertilizers). Both ARB and ARGs have been detected in different water sources, such as groundwater [24,25], surface water [26][27][28], and drinking-water treatment plants and distribution systems [29][30][31]. The ARB (mostly pathogenic) and ARGs (both intracellular and cell-free) present in water can ultimately infect humans and animals through contaminated food, resulting in the reduced efficacy of antibiotics in the treatment of infectious diseases.…”

The global groundwater resistome: core antibiotic resistance genes, their dynamics and drivers

“…While several studies have focused on the importance of GW microbiota in biogeochemical cycles (Flynn et al, 2013; Sonthiphand et al, 2019; Retter et al, 2021) or in their response to pollution with toxic compounds (Taş et al, 2018; Sonthiphand et al, 2019), only few have looked into the occurrence dynamics of ARGs in GW using qPCR or metagenomic approaches (Szekeres et al, 2018; Zhang et al, 2019; Zaouri et al, 2020). The potential anthropogenic impact on AMR in GW was demonstrated for GW beneath a commercially operated wastewater irrigated field (Kampouris et al, 2022).…”