scholarly journals Prevalence, antibiotic resistance and virulence of Enterococcus spp. from wastewater treatment plant effluent and receiving waters in South Africa

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (5) ◽  
pp. 753-765
Author(s):  
L. G. Molale-Tom ◽  
C. C. Bezuidenhout
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Cluster Analysis ◽  
Antibiotic Resistance ◽  
Wastewater Treatment ◽  
Virulence Genes ◽  
Treatment Plant ◽  
Social Needs ◽  
North West ◽  
Enterococcus Spp ◽  
Receiving Waters

Abstract Poorly operating wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) result in faecal pollution of receiving waters, posing a health risk to humans and animals. The aim of this study was to determine the antimicrobial resistance patterns and presence of virulent genes in Enterococcus spp. isolated from three WWTPs' final effluent and receiving waters in the North West Province, South Africa. Sixty-three Enterococcus spp. were identified and their antimicrobial susceptibility, as well as the presence of five virulence genes, determined. The antibiotic inhibition zone diameter data were subject to cluster analysis. Sixty-eight percent of the screened Enterococcus spp. were resistant to three or more antibiotics and harboured plasmids. Five virulence genes were detected and six multi-virulence profiles observed. Cluster analysis indicated groupings of isolates from all three effluent points downstream together, and between plants 1 and 2 together. The findings of this study have demonstrated that Enterococcus spp. harbouring virulence factors and plasmids that mediate multiple antibiotic resistance are present in effluent and receiving water systems that support various social needs. This is a cause for concern and it is recommended that Enterococcus be used as an additional faecal indicator when microbiological quality of water is assessed.

scholarly journals Genomic Analysis of Enterococcus spp. Isolated From a Wastewater Treatment Plant and Its Associated Waters in Umgungundlovu District, South Africa

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua Mbanga ◽  
Daniel G. Amoako ◽  
Akebe L. K. Abia ◽  
Mushal Allam ◽  
Arshad Ismail ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Wastewater Treatment ◽  
Resistance Genes ◽  
Wastewater Treatment Plant ◽  
Virulence Genes ◽  
Treatment Plant ◽  
Antibiotic Resistance Genes ◽  
Genomic Analysis ◽  
Diverse Range ◽  
Sequence Types

We investigated the antibiotic resistome, mobilome, virulome, and phylogenomic lineages of Enterococcus spp. obtained from a wastewater treatment plant and its associated waters using whole-genome sequencing (WGS) and bioinformatics tools. The whole genomes of Enterococcus isolates including Enterococcus faecalis (n = 4), Enterococcus faecium (n = 5), Enterococcus hirae (n = 2), and Enterococcus durans (n = 1) with similar resistance patterns from different sampling sites and time points were sequenced on an Illumina MiSeq machine. Multilocus sequence typing (MLST) analysis revealed two E. faecalis isolates that had a common sequence type ST179; the rest had unique sequence types ST841, and ST300. The E. faecium genomes belonged to 3 sequence types, ST94 (n = 2), ST361 (n = 2), and ST1096 (n = 1). Detected resistance genes included those encoding tetracycline [tet(S), tet(M), and tet(L)], and macrolides [msr(C), msr(D), erm(B), and mef(A)] resistance. Antibiotic resistance genes were associated with insertion sequences (IS6, ISL3, and IS982), and transposons (Tn3 and Tn6000). The tet(M) resistance gene was consistently found associated with a conjugative transposon protein (TcpC). A total of 20 different virulence genes were identified in E. faecalis and E. faecium including those encoding for sex pheromones (cCF10, cOB1, cad, and came), adhesion (ace, SrtA, ebpA, ebpC, and efaAfs), and cell invasion (hylA and hylB). Several virulence genes were associated with the insertion sequence IS256. No virulence genes were detected in E. hirae and E. durans. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that all Enterococcus spp. isolates were more closely related to animal and environmental isolates than clinical isolates. Enterococcus spp. with a diverse range of resistance and virulence genes as well as associated mobile genetic elements (MGEs) exist in the wastewater environment in South Africa.

scholarly journals Metagenomic Community Composition and Resistome Analysis in a Full-scale Cold Climate Wastewater Treatment Plant

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miguel Uyaguari
Keyword(s):  
Antibiotic Resistance ◽  
Wastewater Treatment ◽  
Activated Sludge ◽  
Relative Abundance ◽  
Resistance Genes ◽  
Wastewater Treatment Plant ◽  
Treatment Plant ◽  
Antibiotic Resistance Genes ◽  
Gene Copies ◽  
Final Effluent

Abstract Background: Wastewater treatment plants are an essential part of maintaining the health and safety of the general public. However, they are also an anthropogenic source of antibiotic resistance genes. In this study, we characterized the resistome, the distribution of classes 1-3 integron-integrase genes (intI1, intI2, and intI3) as mobile genetic element biomarkers, and the bacterial and phage community compositions in the North End Sewage Treatment Plant in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Samples were collected from raw sewage, returned activated sludge, final effluent, and dewatered sludge. A total of 28 bacterial and viral metagenomes were sequenced over two seasons, fall and winter. Integron-integrase genes, the 16S rRNA gene, and the coliform beta-glucuronidase gene were also quantified during this time period. Results: Bacterial classes observed above 1% relative abundance in all treatments were Actinobacteria (39.24% ± 0.25%), Beta-proteobacteria (23.99% ± 0.16%), Gamma-proteobacteria (11.06% ± 0.09%), and Alpha-proteobacteria (9.18 ± 0.04%). Families within the Caudovirales order: Siphoviridae (48.69% ± 0.10%), Podoviridae (23.99% ± 0.07%), and Myoviridae (19.94% ± 0.09%) were the dominant phage observed throughout the NESTP. The most abundant bacterial genera (in terms of average percent relative abundance) in influent, returned activated sludge, final effluent, and sludge, respectively, includes Mycobacterium (37.4%, 18.3%, 46.1%, and 7.7%), Acidovorax (8.9%, 10.8%, 5.4%, and 1.3%), and Polaromonas (2.5%, 3.3%, 1.4%, and 0.4%).The most abundant class of antibiotic resistance in bacterial samples was tetracycline resistance (17.86% ± 0.03%) followed by peptide antibiotics (14.24% ± 0.03%), and macrolides (10.63% ± 0.02%). Similarly, the phage samples contained a higher prevalence of macrolide (30.12% ± 0.30%), peptide antibiotic (10.78% ± 0.13%), and tetracycline (8.69% ± 0.11%) resistance. In addition, intI1 was the most abundant integron-integrase gene throughout treatment (1.14x104 gene copies/mL) followed by intI3 (4.97x103 gene copies/mL) while intI2 abundance remained low (6.4x101 gene copies/mL).Conclusions: The wastewater treatment plant successfully reduced the abundance of bacteria, DNA bacteriophages, and antibiotic resistance genes although many of them still remained in effluent and biosolids. The presence of integron-integrase genes throughout treatment and in effluent suggests that antibiotic resistance genes could be actively disseminating resistance between both environmental and pathogenic bacteria.

scholarly journals Accumulation and expression of multiple antibiotic resistance genes in Arcobacter cryaerophilus that thrives in sewage

PeerJ ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. e3269 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jess A. Millar ◽  
Rahul Raghavan
Keyword(s):  
Antibiotic Resistance ◽  
Wastewater Treatment ◽  
Resistance Genes ◽  
Treatment Plant ◽  
Antibiotic Resistance Genes ◽  
Environmental Water ◽  
Multidrug Resistant ◽  
Municipal Sewage ◽  
Animal Origin ◽  
Resistant Bacteria

We explored the bacterial diversity of untreated sewage influent samples of a wastewater treatment plant in Tucson, AZ and discovered that Arcobacter cryaerophilus, an emerging human pathogen of animal origin, was the most dominant bacterium. The other highly prevalent bacteria were members of the phyla Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes, which are major constituents of human gut microbiome, indicating that bacteria of human and animal origin intermingle in sewage. By assembling a near-complete genome of A. cryaerophilus, we show that the bacterium has accumulated a large number of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) probably enabling it to thrive in the wastewater. We also determined that a majority of ARGs was being expressed in sewage, suggestive of trace levels of antibiotics or other stresses that could act as a selective force that amplifies multidrug resistant bacteria in municipal sewage. Because all bacteria are not eliminated even after several rounds of wastewater treatment, ARGs in sewage could affect public health due to their potential to contaminate environmental water.

scholarly journals Assessment of the Role of Wastewater Treatment Plant in Spread of Antibiotic Resistance and Bacterial Pathogens

2019 ◽  
Vol 59 (3) ◽  
pp. 261-265 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yogesh S. Nimonkar ◽  
Bhoomika Yadav ◽  
Payal Talreja ◽  
Ashutosh Sharma ◽  
Shalaka Patil ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Antibiotic Resistance ◽  
Wastewater Treatment ◽  
Wastewater Treatment Plant ◽  
Bacterial Pathogens ◽  
Treatment Plant
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