A better understanding of the spatiotemporal dynamics and influencing factors of sulfonamide antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) distribution in subsurface flow constructed wetlands is essential to improve the ARGs removal efficiency. The spatiotemporal dynamics of sulfonamide ARGs were explored in the vertical upflow subsurface flow constructed wetland (VUSFCW). The results showed that the absolute abundance of ARGs presented a trend of bottom layer > middle layer > top layer. The relative abundance of ARGs decreased significantly from the bottom layer to the middle layer, but increased in the top layer. The bottom layer was the main stage to remove ARGs. The absolute abundance of ARGs at each point in summer was significantly higher than that in winter. Based on the spatiotemporal distribution of ARGs, the internal mechanism of ARGs dynamic change was explored by the partial least square path analysis model. The results showed that physical-chemical factors, microorganisms and antibiotics indirectly affected the spatiotemporal distribution of ARGs mainly through mobile genetic elements. The indirect influence coefficients of physical-chemical factors, microorganisms and antibiotics on the spatiotemporal distribution of ARGs were 0.505, 0.221 and 0.98 respectively. The direct influence coefficient of MGEs on the spatiotemporal distribution of ARGs was 0.895. The results of network analysis showed that the potential host species of ARGs in summer were more abundant than those in winter. The selection mode of sulfonamide ARGs to potential hosts was nonspecific. There is a risk of sulfonamide ARGs infecting pathogens in VUSFCW. Fortunately, VUSFCW has proven effective in reducing the absolute abundance of ARGs and the potential risk of pathogens carrying ARGs. These findings provide a model simulation and theoretical basis for effectively reducing the threat of ARGs.

Taihu Lake is one of the largest freshwater lakes in China and serves as an important source for drinking water. This lake is suffering from eutrophication, cyanobacterial blooms and fecal pollution, and the inflow Tiaoxi River is one of the main contributors. The goal here was to characterize the bacterial community structure of Tiaoxi River water by next-generation sequencing (NGS), paying attention to bacteria that are either fecal-associated or pathogenic, and to examine the relationship between environmental parameters and bacterial community structure. Water samples collected from 15 locations in three seasons, and fecal samples collected from different hosts and wastewater samples were used for bacterial community analysis. The phyla Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Cyanobacteria were predominant in most of the water samples tested. In fecal samples, Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, and Proteobacteria were abundant, while wastewater samples were dominated by Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Acidobacteria, and Chloroflexi. The cluster analysis and principal coordinate analysis indicated that bacterial community structure was significantly different between water, fecal and sewage samples. Shared OTUs between water samples and chicken, pig, and human fecal samples ranged from 4.5 to 9.8% indicating the presence of avian, pig and human fecal contamination in Tiaoxi River. At genus level, five bacterial genera of fecal origin and sequences of seven potential pathogens were detected in many locations and their presence was correlated well with the land use pattern. The sequencing data revealed that Faecalibacterium could be a potential target for human-associated microbial source-tracking qPCR assays. Our results suggest that pH, conductivity, and temperature were the main environmental factors in shaping the bacterial community based on redundancy analysis. Overall, NGS is a valuable tool for preliminary investigation of environmental samples to identify the potential human health risk, providing specific information about fecal and potentially pathogenic bacteria that can be followed up by specific methods.

Fish-associated antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) have attracted increasing attention due to their potential risks to human beings via the food chain. However, data are scarce regarding the antibiotic resistance in fish themselves. Herein, the antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) were assessed in the gut of four major Chinese freshwater carp (i.e., silver carp, grass carp, bighead carp, and crucian carp) from food retail markets. Results show that the abundances of target ARGs (e.g., tetA, tetO, tetQ, tetW, sulI, sulII, and blaTEM₋₁) and class 1 integrase (intI1) were in the range 9.4 × 10⁻⁶ - 1.6 × 10⁻¹ and 6.7 × 10⁻⁵ - 5.2 × 10⁻² gene copies per 16S rRNA gene, respectively. The sulI, sulII, and tetQ strongly correlated with silver and mercury resistance genes (e.g., silE and merR). The microbial taxa of fish gut could be partly separated among retail markets based on the PCA analysis. About 15.0% of the OTUs in fish gut were shared and 74.5% of the shared OTUs were identified as Acidobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Chloroflexi, Cyanobacteria, Firmicutes, and Proteobacteria. These phyla may constitute the core microbiota in the guts of the four Chinese freshwater carp. The possible ARG hosts were revealed based on the network analysis, and the presence of pathogen-associated resistant genera in fish gut highlights the need to fully understand their potential human health risks.

Activated sludge (AS) has been regarded as the main driver in the removal of organic pollutants such as pesticides due to a high diversity and abundance of microorganisms. However, little is known about the biodegradation genes (BDGs) and pesticide degradation genes (PDGs) harbored in the AS from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). In this study, we explored the bacterial communities and BDGs/PDGs in the AS from five WWTPs affiliated with pesticide factories across four consecutive seasons based on high-throughput sequencing. The AS in pesticide WWTPs exhibited unique bacterial taxa at the genus level. Furthermore, a total of 17 BDGs and 68 PDGs were explored with a corresponding average relative abundance of 0.002–0.046% and 2.078–7.143% in each AS sample, respectively, and some BDGs/PDGs clusters were also identified in the AS. The bacterial communities and BDGs/PDGs were season-dependent, and the total variations of 50.4% and 76.8% were jointly explained by environmental variables (pesticide types, wastewater characteristics, and temperature). In addition, network analysis and distribution patterns suggested that the potential hosts of BDGs/PDGs were Thauera, Stenotrophomonas, Mycobacterium, Hyphomicrobium, Allochromatium, Ralstonia, and Dechloromonas. Our findings demonstrated the linkages of bacterial communities and BDGs/PDGs in the AS, and depended on the seasons and the pesticide wastewater characteristics.

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), one type of lipophilic pollutant, are ubiquitous in daily life. PCBs exposure has been implicated in the alterations of gut microbial community which is profoundly associated with diverse metabolic disorders, including obesity. High-fat diet (H) is a dietary pattern characterized by a high percentage of fat. According to the theory that similarities can be easily solvable in each other, PCBs and H exposures are inevitably and objectively coexistent in a real living environment, prompting great concerns about their individual and combined effects on hosts. However, the effects of PCBs-H interactions on gut microbiota and obesity are still incompletely understood. In the present study, the effects of PCBs and/or H on the gut microbiota alteration and obesity risk in mice were examined and the interactions between PCBs and H were investigated. Obtained results showed that PCBs and/or H exposure induced prominent variations in the gut microbiota composition and diversity. Exposure to PCBs also resulted in higher body fat percentage, greater size of abdominal subcutaneous adipocytes and increased expression of proinflammatory cytokines including TNF-α, iNOS and IL-6. Such PCBs-induced changes could be further enhanced upon the co-exposure of H, implying that obese individuals may be vulnerable to PCBs exposure. Taken together, the present study is helpful for a better understanding of the gut microbiota variation influenced by PCBs and/or H exposure, and furthermore, provides a novel insight into the mechanism of PCBs-H interactions on host adiposity.

Bacteriophages (phages) are the most abundant and diverse biological entities in our planet. They infect susceptible bacterial hosts into which they either multiply or persist. In the latter case, phages can confer new functions to their hosts as a result of gene transfer, thus contributing to their adaptation (short-term) and evolution (long-term). In this regard, the role of phages on the dissemination of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) among bacterial hosts in natural environments has not yet been clearly resolved. Here, we carry out a comprehensive analysis of thirty-three viromes from different habitats to investigate whether phages harbor ARGs. Our results demonstrate that while human-associated viromes do not or rarely carry ARGs, viromes from non-human sources (e.g. pig feces, raw sewage, and freshwater and marine environments) contain a large reservoir of ARGs, thus pointing out that phages could play a part on the spread of antibiotic resistance. Given this, the role of phages should not be underestimated and it should be considered when designing strategies to tackle the global crisis of antibiotic resistance.

Urban and peri-urban forests provide a multitude of Ecosystem Services to the citizens. While the capacity of removing carbon dioxide and gaseous compounds from the atmosphere has been tested, their capacity to sequestrate particles (PM) has been poorly investigated. Mediterranean forest ecosystems are often located nearby or inside large urban areas. This is the case of the city of Rome, Italy, which hosts several urban parks and is surrounded by forested areas. In particular, the Presidential Estate of Castelporziano is a 6000 ha forested area located between the Tyrrhenian coast and the city (25 km downtown of Rome). Under the hypothesis that forests can ameliorate air quality thanks to particle deposition, we measured fluxes of PM1, 2.5 and 10 with fast optical sensors and eddy covariance technique. We found that PM1 is mainly deposited during the central hours of the day, while negligible fluxes were observed for PM 2.5 and 10. A Hybrid Single–Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory model (HYSPLIT v4) simulated PM emission from traffic areas in the city of Rome and showed that a significant portion of PM is removed by vegetation in the days when the plume trajectory meets the urban forest.

Within wetlands, epiphytes and macrophytes play an important role in storage and transfer of metals, through the food web. However, there is a lack of information about spatial and temporal changes in their metal levels, including those of mercury (Hg), a key priority contaminant of aquatic systems. We assessed total mercury (THg) and methylmercury (MeHg) concentrations of epiphyte/macrophyte complexes in Lake St. Pierre, a large fluvial lake of the St. Lawrence River (Québec, Canada). THg and MeHg concentrations were ten fold higher in epiphytes than in macrophytes. THg concentrations in epiphytes linearly decreased as a function of the autotrophic index, suggesting a role of algae in epiphyte Hg accumulation, and % of MeHg in epiphytes reached values as high as 74%. Spatio-temporal variability in THg and MeHg concentrations in epiphytes and macrophytes were influenced by water temperature, available light, host species, water level, dissolved organic carbon and dissolved oxygen.