Reduction of Arcobacter at Two Conventional Wastewater Treatment Plants in Southern Arizona, USA

Shrestha, Rajani Ghaju; Sherchan, Samendra P.; Kitajima, Masaaki; Tanaka, Yasuhiro; Gerba, Charles P.; Haramoto, Eiji

doi:10.3390/pathogens8040175

Cited by 24 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…However, this is a more general challenge for monitoring and evaluation of wastewater effluent quality in relation to potential pathogens in wastewater and their fate through treatment facilities. Monitoring and evaluation of wastewater effluent quality could be carried out with amplicon sequencing, as demonstrated in this study, or Arcobacter and its virulence genes could be analyzed by combining metagenomic and quantitative-PCR studies (40). Our study stresses the need for developing and testing such standardized cultureindependent measurements of all pathogens in wastewater, treatment facilities, effluent, and the receiving environment.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 90%

Bacteria from the Genus Arcobacter Are Abundant in Effluent from Wastewater Treatment Plants

Kristensen

Nierychlo

Albertsen

et al. 2020

Appl Environ Microbiol

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Pathogenic bacteria in wastewater are generally considered to be efficiently removed in biological wastewater treatment plants. This understanding is almost solely based on culture-based control measures, and here we show, by applying culture-independent methods, that the removal of species in the genus Arcobacter was less effective than for many other abundant genera in the influent wastewater. Arcobacter was one of the most abundant genera in influent wastewater at 14 municipal wastewater treatment plants and was also abundant in the “clean” effluent from all the plants, reaching up to 30% of all bacteria as analyzed by 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. Metagenomic analyses, culturing, genome sequencing of Arcobacter isolates, and visualization by fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) confirmed the presence of the human-pathogenic Arcobacter cryaerophilus and A. butzleri in both influent and effluent. The main reason for the high relative abundance in the effluent was probably that Arcobacter cells, compared to those of other abundant genera in the influent, did not flocculate and attach well to the activated sludge flocs, leaving a relatively large fraction dispersed in the water phase. The study shows there is an urgent need for new standardized culture-independent measurements of pathogens in effluent wastewaters, e.g., amplicon sequencing, and an investigation of the problem on a global scale to quantify the risk for humans and livestock. IMPORTANCE The genus Arcobacter was unexpectedly abundant in the effluent from 14 Danish wastewater treatment plants treating municipal wastewater, and the species included the human-pathogenic A. cryaerophilus and A. butzleri. Recent studies have shown that Arcobacter is common in wastewater worldwide, so the study indicates that discharge of members of the genus Arcobacter may be a global problem, and further studies are needed to quantify the risk and potentially minimize the discharge. The study also shows that culture-based analyses are insufficient for proper effluent quality control, and new standardized culture-independent measurements of effluent quality encompassing most pathogens should be considered.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 90%

Bacteria from the Genus Arcobacter Are Abundant in Effluent from Wastewater Treatment Plants

Kristensen

Nierychlo

Albertsen

et al. 2020

Appl Environ Microbiol

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“…However, our in situ survey was performed only on a limited sampling area; thus, to better understand the potential scale of wastewater-derived pollution dispersion, an effort should be made to upscale sampling areas in the future. Furthermore, future studies should continue to develop and test standardized culturing-independent methods, including amplicon sequencing or more rapid molecular assays, such as quantitative-PCR ( Ghaju Shrestha et al, 2019 ). Implementation of rapid molecular analyses in combination with the use of oceanographic and statistical models can help improve environmental monitoring by increasing the frequency of monitoring and expanding the range of indicators and can be used to predict the spread of pollutants and associated health risks over larger areas.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bacterial Indicators Are Ubiquitous Members of Pelagic Microbiome in Anthropogenically Impacted Coastal Ecosystem

et al. 2022

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Coastal zones are exposed to various anthropogenic impacts, such as different types of wastewater pollution, e.g., treated wastewater discharges, leakage from sewage systems, and agricultural and urban runoff. These various inputs can introduce allochthonous organic matter and microbes, including pathogens, into the coastal marine environment. The presence of fecal bacterial indicators in the coastal environment is usually monitored using traditional culture-based methods that, however, fail to detect their uncultured representatives. We have conducted a year-around in situ survey of the pelagic microbiome of the dynamic coastal ecosystem, subjected to different anthropogenic pressures to depict the seasonal and spatial dynamics of traditional and alternative fecal bacterial indicators. To provide an insight into the environmental conditions under which bacterial indicators thrive, a suite of environmental factors and bacterial community dynamics were analyzed concurrently. Analyses of 16S rRNA amplicon sequences revealed that the coastal microbiome was primarily structured by seasonal changes regardless of the distance from the wastewater pollution sources. On the other hand, fecal bacterial indicators were not affected by seasons and accounted for up to 34% of the sequence proportion for a given sample. Even more so, traditional fecal indicator bacteria (Enterobacteriaceae) and alternative wastewater-associated bacteria (Lachnospiraceae, Ruminococcaceae, Arcobacteraceae, Pseudomonadaceae and Vibrionaceae) were part of the core coastal microbiome, i.e., present at all sampling stations. Microbial source tracking and Lagrangian particle tracking, which we employed to assess the potential pollution source, revealed the importance of riverine water as a vector for transmission of allochthonous microbes into the marine system. Further phylogenetic analysis showed that the Arcobacteraceae in our data set was affiliated with the pathogenic Arcobacter cryaerophilus, suggesting that a potential exposure risk for bacterial pathogens in anthropogenically impacted coastal zones remains. We emphasize that molecular analyses combined with statistical and oceanographic models may provide new insights for environmental health assessment and reveal the potential source and presence of microbial indicators, which are otherwise overlooked by a cultivation approach.

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“…are detected in WWTP in several countries. 31,32 The hospital sewage is influenced by the patients' gut flora, 29,33 but it is unclear whether the difference in the bacterial composition of each tank reflects the characteristics of the patients in each building. Thus, the bacterial composition of STN appears similar to that of STW (Figure 3).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comprehensive Genomic Survey of Antimicrobial-Resistance Bacteria in the Sewage Tank Replacement with Hospital Relocation

Katagiri¹,

Kuroda²,

Sekizuka³

et al. 2021

IDR

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Background: Excrement containing antimicrobial-resistant bacteria (ARB) is discharged from the hospital sewage through wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) into rivers, increasing the antimicrobial resistance (AMR) burden on the environment. Purpose: We illustrate the contamination of hospital sewage tanks with ARB harboring antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs) using comprehensive metagenomic sequencing. During the study period, we moved to a new hospital building constructed for renovation. Therefore, we investigated the difference in bacterial flora in the sewage tanks for each building with different departments, and the change in bacterial flora over time in new sewage tanks. Furthermore, we performed a comparative genome analysis of extended spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)-producing organisms (EPOs) from hospital sewage and clinical samples. Residual antibiotics in the sewage tank were also measured. Methods: Metagenomic analysis was performed on the hospital sewage samples, followed by whole genome sequencing of EPOs. Results:The bacterial composition of new sewage tanks was comparable with that of old tanks within 1 month after relocation and was instantly affected by excrement. The bacterial composition of sewage tanks in the old and new buildings, containing rooms where seriously ill patients were treated, was similar. Selection on CHROMagar ESBL allowed detection of EPOs harboring bla CTX-M and carbapenemase genes in all sewage tanks. One of the sewage Escherichia coli strain comprising ST393 harboring bla CTX-M-27 corresponded to the clinical isolates based on core genome analysis. Moreover, the levels of levofloxacin and clarithromycin in the hospital sewage were 0.0325 and 0.0135 µg/mL, respectively. Conclusion: Hospital sewage was contaminated with many ARB species, ARGs and residual antibiotics, which can cause a burden on WWTP sewage treatment. The bacterial flora in the sewage tank was rapidly affected, especially by the ward with seriously ill patients. AMR monitoring of hospital sewage may help detect carriers prior to nosocomial ARB-associated outbreaks and control the outbreaks.

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Reduction of Arcobacter at Two Conventional Wastewater Treatment Plants in Southern Arizona, USA

Cited by 24 publications

References 47 publications

Bacteria from the Genus Arcobacter Are Abundant in Effluent from Wastewater Treatment Plants

Bacteria from the Genus Arcobacter Are Abundant in Effluent from Wastewater Treatment Plants

Bacterial Indicators Are Ubiquitous Members of Pelagic Microbiome in Anthropogenically Impacted Coastal Ecosystem

Comprehensive Genomic Survey of Antimicrobial-Resistance Bacteria in the Sewage Tank Replacement with Hospital Relocation

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