Elevated levels of antibiotic resistance in groundwater during treated wastewater irrigation associated with infiltration and accumulation of antibiotic residues

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • Ioannis D. Kampouris - , Institute of Hydrobiology (Author)
  • Nikiforos Alygizakis - , Environmental Institute, Slovakia, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (Author)
  • Uli Klümper - , Institute of Hydrobiology (Author)
  • Shelesh Agrawal - , Technische Universität Darmstadt (Author)
  • Susanne Lackner - , Technische Universität Darmstadt (Author)
  • Damiano Cacace - , Institute of Hydrobiology (Author)
  • Steffen Kunze - , TUD Dresden University of Technology (Author)
  • Nikolaos S. Thomaidis - , National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (Author)
  • Jaroslav Slobdonik - , Environmental Institute, Slovakia (Author)
  • Thomas U. Berendonk - , Institute of Hydrobiology (Author)

Abstract

Treated wastewater irrigation (TWW) releases antibiotics and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) into the environment and might thus promote the dissemination of antibiotic resistance in groundwater (GW). We hypothesized that TWW irrigation increases ARG abundance in GW through two potential mechanisms: the contamination of GW with resistant bacteria and the accumulation of antibiotics in GW. To test this, the GW below a real-scale TWW-irrigated field was sampled for six months. Sampling took place before, during and after high-intensity TWW irrigation. Samples were analysed with 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing, qPCR of six ARGs and the class 1 integron-integrase gene intI1, while liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry was performed to detect antibiotic and pharmaceutical residues. Absolute abundance of 16S rRNA in GW decreased rather than increased during long-term irrigation. Also, the relative abundance of TWW-related bacteria did not increase in GW during long-term irrigation. In contrast, long-term TWW irrigation increased the relative abundance of sul1 and intI1 in the GW microbiome. Furthermore, GW contained elevated concentrations of sulfonamide antibiotics, especially sulfamethoxazole, to which sul1 confers resistance. Total sulfonamide concentrations in GW correlated with sul1 relative abundance. Consequently, TWW irrigation promoted sul1 and intI1 dissemination in the GW microbiome, most likely due to the accumulation of drug residues.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Article number127155
Number of pages10
JournalJournal of hazardous materials
Volume423
Publication statusPublished - 5 Feb 2022
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

PubMed 34555761
ORCID /0000-0002-4169-6548/work/142247349

Keywords

Keywords

  • Antibiotic resistance, Groundwater, Sulfamethoxazole, Wastewater Irrigation, Genes, Bacterial, RNA, Ribosomal, 16S/genetics, Wastewater/analysis, Anti-Bacterial Agents/pharmacology, Drug Resistance, Microbial/genetics

Library keywords