Seasonal dynamics of antibiotic resistance genes in sewage | Saisonale Dynamik von Antibiotikaresistenzgenen im Abwasser
2017
Berendonk, Thomas U. | Caucci, Serena | Cacace, Damiano | Dusi, Eike
Antibiotic resistance is a growing global problem, which is still largely unclear. The correlation between antibiotic use and the emergence of resistance in clinics has been shown worldwide. In this context it is discussed whether a seasonal prescription of the antibiotics to ambulatory patients leads to changes in the concentration of the antibiotic resistance genes (ARG) in the course of the season. This is due to the fact that the selection pressure by the antibiotics occurs primarily in the human intestine and both eliminated resistant bacteria as well as non-metabolised antibiotics reach the waste water purification plant. Sewage systems and sewage treatment plants are the main collectors of household and hospital waste and here pathogenic and non-pathogenic bacteria mix. This is done in the presence of selective agents such as, e.g. antibiotics, which promotes the probability of the spread of resistance genes. For this reason, sewage treatment plants are a critical stopover point for the spread of antibiotic resistance. Sewage treatment plants reduce the number of bacteria in sewage, but whether and how the composition of the microbial community is changed during the clarification process is particularly relevant to antibiotic resistance genes. In the present study samples of the sewage system, the inlet and the effluent of a sewage treatment plant in Dresden were analyzed. These samples were taken seasonally for two years and the concentrations for eleven resistance genes were determined. In addition, the microbial community was determined by molecular methods. We tested the hypothesis that the change in the microbial community and the concentration of the ARGs are related.
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