Impact of sulfonamides on microbial community and antibiotic resistome profiles in anaerobic digestion of swine wastewater

Research output: Contribution to journal › Research article › Contributed › peer-review

Contributors

  • Qinmao Zhou - , Tsinghua University (Author)
  • Hebin Liang - , Tsinghua University, Anhui Agricultural University (Author)
  • Jin Huang - , Tsinghua University, Central South University (Author)
  • Uli Klümper - , Chair of Limnology (Author)
  • Peiju Fang - , Tsinghua University (Author)
  • Zehui Yu - , Tsinghua University (Author)
  • Yuyang Wang - , Tsinghua University (Author)
  • Thomas U. Berendonk - , Chair of Limnology (Author)
  • Lin Lin - , Tsinghua University (Author)
  • Xiaoyan Li - , Tsinghua University (Author)
  • Bing Li - , Tsinghua University (Author)

Abstract

Residual antibiotics in swine wastewater promote the proliferation of the antibiotic resistome, posing significant threats to environmental and human health. Although anaerobic digestion (AD) is widely applied for treating swine wastewater, the effects of antibiotics on the microbial community and resistome during AD remain unclear. This study employed amplicon and metagenomic sequencing, combined with long- and short-read hybrid assembly, to comprehensively investigate the impact of sulfonamides on the microbiome and resistome during AD. Enterococcus, a genus capable of utilizing exogenous folate, was identified as the dominant genus under sulfonamide stress. A total of 24 antibiotic resistance gene (ARG) types and 440 subtypes were identified. Sulfonamide stress selectively enriched sulfonamide resistance genes, with no notable co-selective effects on ARGs for other antibiotic classes. Short-term exposure significantly enriched sul2 (3.8-fold) and sul3 (4.0-fold), while long-term exposure enriched sul1 (1.6-fold). Sulfonamides especially promoted the proliferation of sulfonamide resistance genes on both mobilizable and non-mobilizable plasmids. The co-occurrence of multiple categories of mobile genetic elements and ARGs on contigs was inferred to play a critical role in driving ARG dissemination. Whereas a strain belonging to Enterococcus_I emerged as the dominant resistant bacterium in the AD system, a particular multidrug-resistance risk was identified for a strain belonging to the Filifactoraceae family. This work provides a new perspective on the impact of antibiotics on microbial community and antibiotic resistome composition and dynamics during the AD treatment process of swine wastewater.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Article number141426
JournalJournal of hazardous materials
Volume505
Early online date9 Feb 2026
Publication statusPublished - 1 Mar 2026
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

ORCID /0000-0002-9301-1803/work/205331792
ORCID /0000-0003-1851-2066/work/205336508
Scopus 105029674735

Keywords

Research priority areas of TU Dresden

Sustainable Development Goals

Keywords

  • Sulfonamide antibiotics, Swine wastewater, Antibiotic resistance genes, Anaerobic digestion, Microbial community, Mobile genetic elements