摘要

我们研究了亚利桑那州图森市污水处理厂未经处理的污水进水样本的细菌多样性，发现动物来源的新兴人类病原菌Arcobacter cryaerophilus是最主要的细菌。其他高度流行的细菌是类杆菌和厚壁菌的成员，它们是人类肠道微生物群的主要成分，表明人类和动物来源的细菌在污水中混合。通过组装一个近乎完整的A. cryaerophilus基因组，我们显示该细菌积累了大量的抗生素抗性基因（ARGs），可能使其在废水中大量繁殖。我们还确定，大部分ARGs正在污水中表达，暗示着痕量水平的抗生素或其他压力，可能成为放大城市污水中多重耐药细菌的选择性力量。由于所有的细菌即使经过几轮废水处理后也不会被消除，因此污水中的ARGs可能会污染环境用水，从而影响公众健康。

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.

https://peerj.com/articles/3269/