Prevalence of antibiotic resistance genes and their relationship with antibiotics in the Huangpu River and the drinking water sources, Shanghai, China.

The prevalence of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and their relationship with antibiotics in the surface waters of the Huangpu River and the drinking water sources of Shanghai, China, were investigated. 39 ARGs, including four sulfonamide ARGs, 23 tetracycline ARGs, four chloramphenicol ARGs, five β-lactam ARGs and three penicillin ARGs were targeted in this study. Two sulfonamide ARGs (sul I and sul II), eight tetracycline ARGs (tet(A), tet(B), tet(C), tet(G), tet(M), tet(O), tet(W) and tet(X)), and one β-lactam ARG (TEM) were detected to be present in water samples by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), with the detection frequencies ranging from 42.86% to 100%. The average concentrations of the 11 ARGs ranged from 3.66×10(1) copy/mL (tet(B)) to 1.62×10(5) copy/mL (sul II), quantified by quantitative real-time PCR (QPCR). The number of detected ARGs and the ARG concentrations were generally higher in suburban sampling sites than in urban sites. Being in or near suburban rural areas, some raw drinking water sources were observed to have comparatively higher ARG contamination, drawing an urgent attention for the concern of public health. Generally consistent relations were observed between the concentrations of tet genes and the tetracycline levels and between the concentrations of sul genes and the sulfonamide levels.

[1]  R. Mackie,et al.  Occurrence and Diversity of Tetracycline Resistance Genes in Lagoons and Groundwater Underlying Two Swine Production Facilities , 2001, Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

[2]  Stefan Wuertz,et al.  Studying plasmid horizontal transfer in situ: a critical review , 2005, Nature Reviews Microbiology.

[3]  F. Baquero,et al.  Antibiotics and antibiotic resistance in water environments. , 2008, Current opinion in biotechnology.

[4]  J. Martínez,et al.  Environmental pollution by antibiotics and by antibiotic resistance determinants. , 2009, Environmental pollution.

[5]  Qixing Zhou,et al.  Trends in antibiotic resistance genes occurrence in the Haihe River, China. , 2010, Environmental science & technology.

[6]  A. Pühler,et al.  Genomics of IncP-1 antibiotic resistance plasmids isolated from wastewater treatment plants provides evidence for a widely accessible drug resistance gene pool. , 2007, FEMS microbiology reviews.

[7]  K. McMahon,et al.  Tetracycline resistance genes in activated sludge wastewater treatment plants. , 2007, Water research.

[8]  J. Davison,et al.  Genetic exchange between bacteria in the environment. , 1999, Plasmid.

[9]  D. Mawhinney,et al.  Occurrence of antibiotics in hospital, residential, and dairy effluent, municipal wastewater, and the Rio Grande in New Mexico. , 2006, The Science of the total environment.

[10]  Ursula Obst,et al.  Detection of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and their resistance genes in wastewater, surface water, and drinking water biofilms. , 2003, FEMS microbiology ecology.

[11]  Thomas Wintgens,et al.  Quantitative PCR Monitoring of Antibiotic Resistance Genes and Bacterial Pathogens in Three European Artificial Groundwater Recharge Systems , 2008, Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

[12]  A. Alves,et al.  Occurrence and diversity of integrons and beta-lactamase genes among ampicillin-resistant isolates from estuarine waters. , 2006, Research in microbiology.

[13]  M. Arabi,et al.  Identification of antibiotic-resistance-gene molecular signatures suitable as tracers of pristine river, urban, and agricultural sources. , 2010, Environmental science & technology.

[14]  Amy Pruden,et al.  Effect of river landscape on the sediment concentrations of antibiotics and corresponding antibiotic resistance genes (ARG). , 2006, Water research.

[15]  M. Roberts.  Update on acquired tetracycline resistance genes. , 2005, FEMS microbiology letters.

[16]  Diana S. Aga,et al.  Potential Ecological and Human Health Impacts of Antibiotics and Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria from Wastewater Treatment Plants , 2007, Journal of toxicology and environmental health. Part B, Critical reviews.

[17]  J. Davies,et al.  Origins and Evolution of Antibiotic Resistance , 1996, Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews.

[18]  Klaus Kümmerer,et al.  Antibiotics in the aquatic environment--a review--part I. , 2009, Chemosphere.

[19]  P. Servais,et al.  Antimicrobial resistance of fecal bacteria in waters of the Seine river watershed (France). , 2009, The Science of the total environment.

[20]  J. Stanley,et al.  Enterobacterial tetracycline resistance in relation to plasmid incompatibility. , 1992, Molecular and cellular probes.

[21]  Y. Kamagata,et al.  Phenotyping and genotyping of antibiotic-resistant Escherichia coli isolated from a natural river basin. , 2008, Environmental science & technology.

[22]  Satoru Suzuki,et al.  Tetracycline resistance genes persist at aquaculture farms in the absence of selection pressure. , 2011, Environmental science & technology.

[23]  A. Boxall,et al.  A global perspective on the use, sales, exposure pathways, occurrence, fate and effects of veterinary antibiotics (VAs) in the environment. , 2006, Chemosphere.

[24]  K. Carlson,et al.  Evolution of antibiotic occurrence in a river through pristine, urban and agricultural landscapes. , 2003, Water research.

[25]  I. Dalsgaard,et al.  The tetracycline resistance gene tet(E) is frequently occurring and present on large horizontally transferable plasmids in Aeromonas spp. from fish farms , 2007 .

[26]  Daqiang Yin,et al.  Occurrence, distribution and seasonal variation of antibiotics in the Huangpu River, Shanghai, China. , 2011, Chemosphere.

[27]  S. Bardy,et al.  Influence of tetracycline resistance on the transport of manure-derived Escherichia coli in saturated porous media. , 2011, Water research.

[28]  F. Curriero,et al.  Antibiotic-Resistant Enterococci and Fecal Indicators in Surface Water and Groundwater Impacted by a Concentrated Swine Feeding Operation , 2007, Environmental health perspectives.

[29]  Amy Pruden,et al.  Antibiotic resistance genes as emerging contaminants: studies in northern Colorado. , 2006, Environmental science & technology.

[30]  D Fatta-Kassinos,et al.  Urban wastewater treatment plants as hotspots for the release of antibiotics in the environment: a review. , 2013, Water research.

[31]  Tong Zhang,et al.  Class 1 integronase gene and tetracycline resistance genes tetA and tetC in different water environments of Jiangsu Province, China , 2009, Ecotoxicology.

[32]  Marilyn Roberts,et al.  Tetracycline Antibiotics: Mode of Action, Applications, Molecular Biology, and Epidemiology of Bacterial Resistance , 2001, Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews.

[33]  C. Manaia,et al.  Urban wastewater treatment plants as hotspots for antibiotic resistant bacteria and genes spread into the environment: a review. , 2013, The Science of the total environment.

[34]  C. Yost,et al.  Antibiotic resistance plasmids in wastewater treatment plants and their possible dissemination into the environment , 2010 .