Unveiling the Origins of Antimicrobial Resistance Genes in Wastewater: A Shotgun Metagenomic Study

AIM: Antimicrobial resistance gene (ARG) reservoirs such as wastewaters are critical hot-spots for ARG transfer. It is hypothesized that human pathogens acquire resistance genes from environmental species through such transfer activities. This study aims to investigate the taxonomic origins of ARGs...

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Main Authors: Mehmet Hora, Ozkan Ufuk Nalbantoglu, Aycan Gundogdu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2024-12-01
Series:Journal of Global Antimicrobial Resistance
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213716524003849
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author Mehmet Hora
Ozkan Ufuk Nalbantoglu
Aycan Gundogdu
Mehmet Hora
author_facet Mehmet Hora
Ozkan Ufuk Nalbantoglu
Aycan Gundogdu
Mehmet Hora
author_sort Mehmet Hora
collection DOAJ
description AIM: Antimicrobial resistance gene (ARG) reservoirs such as wastewaters are critical hot-spots for ARG transfer. It is hypothesized that human pathogens acquire resistance genes from environmental species through such transfer activities. This study aims to investigate the taxonomic origins of ARGs detected in hospital and municipal wastewater metagenomes, thereby assessing the phylogenetic characteristics of ARGs to provide insights into the resistome/mobilome cycle hypotheses. METHODS: Three municipal wastewater and three hospital wastewater metagenomes were sampled biweekly and sequenced using high-throughput sequencing (Illumina NextSeq). All metagenomes were pooled, and de novo genome assembly was performed using the IDBA_UD program. Computational gene estimation of resistance genes was conducted via the DeepARG program. To determine the taxonomic origins of the resistance genes, all genome fragments containing resistance genes were assigned to taxonomic classes using the “kaiju” program. RESULTS: A total of 437 resistance genes were detected in hospital wastewater and 583 in municipal wastewater. Taxonomic assignment of these genes revealed that ARGs are primarily harbored by environmental species in municipal wastewaters, while potentially pathogenic taxa are the main contributors in hospital wastewater (Table 1). CONCLUSION: The findings from this metagenomic study support the hypothesis that ARGs are mainly harbored by environmental species in gene transfer hot-spots. This suggests that human pathogens might acquire their antibiotic resistance characteristics through horizontal transfer of ARGs from these environmental reservoirs.
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series Journal of Global Antimicrobial Resistance
spelling doaj-art-c11e32bf91a547bab33f4d3cc6d11ac32025-08-20T02:57:24ZengElsevierJournal of Global Antimicrobial Resistance2213-71652024-12-0139646510.1016/j.jgar.2024.10.207Unveiling the Origins of Antimicrobial Resistance Genes in Wastewater: A Shotgun Metagenomic StudyMehmet Hora0Ozkan Ufuk Nalbantoglu1Aycan Gundogdu2Mehmet Hora3Erciyes University, Health Sciences Institute, Bioinformatics and System Biology Department, Kayseri, TurkiyeDepartment of Computer Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Erciyes University, Kayseri, TurkiyeDepartment of Microbiology and Clinical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Erciyes University, Kayseri, TurkiyeErciyes University, Betül-Ziya Eren Genome and Stem Cell Center, Kayseri, TurkiyeAIM: Antimicrobial resistance gene (ARG) reservoirs such as wastewaters are critical hot-spots for ARG transfer. It is hypothesized that human pathogens acquire resistance genes from environmental species through such transfer activities. This study aims to investigate the taxonomic origins of ARGs detected in hospital and municipal wastewater metagenomes, thereby assessing the phylogenetic characteristics of ARGs to provide insights into the resistome/mobilome cycle hypotheses. METHODS: Three municipal wastewater and three hospital wastewater metagenomes were sampled biweekly and sequenced using high-throughput sequencing (Illumina NextSeq). All metagenomes were pooled, and de novo genome assembly was performed using the IDBA_UD program. Computational gene estimation of resistance genes was conducted via the DeepARG program. To determine the taxonomic origins of the resistance genes, all genome fragments containing resistance genes were assigned to taxonomic classes using the “kaiju” program. RESULTS: A total of 437 resistance genes were detected in hospital wastewater and 583 in municipal wastewater. Taxonomic assignment of these genes revealed that ARGs are primarily harbored by environmental species in municipal wastewaters, while potentially pathogenic taxa are the main contributors in hospital wastewater (Table 1). CONCLUSION: The findings from this metagenomic study support the hypothesis that ARGs are mainly harbored by environmental species in gene transfer hot-spots. This suggests that human pathogens might acquire their antibiotic resistance characteristics through horizontal transfer of ARGs from these environmental reservoirs.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213716524003849Antimicrobial resistance genesMetagenomicsNGSResistome
spellingShingle Mehmet Hora
Ozkan Ufuk Nalbantoglu
Aycan Gundogdu
Mehmet Hora
Unveiling the Origins of Antimicrobial Resistance Genes in Wastewater: A Shotgun Metagenomic Study
Journal of Global Antimicrobial Resistance
Antimicrobial resistance genes
Metagenomics
NGS
Resistome
title Unveiling the Origins of Antimicrobial Resistance Genes in Wastewater: A Shotgun Metagenomic Study
title_full Unveiling the Origins of Antimicrobial Resistance Genes in Wastewater: A Shotgun Metagenomic Study
title_fullStr Unveiling the Origins of Antimicrobial Resistance Genes in Wastewater: A Shotgun Metagenomic Study
title_full_unstemmed Unveiling the Origins of Antimicrobial Resistance Genes in Wastewater: A Shotgun Metagenomic Study
title_short Unveiling the Origins of Antimicrobial Resistance Genes in Wastewater: A Shotgun Metagenomic Study
title_sort unveiling the origins of antimicrobial resistance genes in wastewater a shotgun metagenomic study
topic Antimicrobial resistance genes
Metagenomics
NGS
Resistome
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213716524003849
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AT ozkanufuknalbantoglu unveilingtheoriginsofantimicrobialresistancegenesinwastewaterashotgunmetagenomicstudy
AT aycangundogdu unveilingtheoriginsofantimicrobialresistancegenesinwastewaterashotgunmetagenomicstudy
AT mehmethora unveilingtheoriginsofantimicrobialresistancegenesinwastewaterashotgunmetagenomicstudy