Author, as appears in the article.: Zagui, Guilherme Sgobbi; Moreira, Natalia Columbaro; Santos, Danilo Vitorino; Darini, Ana Lucia Costa; Domingo, Jose L; Segura-Munoz, Susana Ines; Andrade, Leonardo Neves
Department: Ciències Mèdiques Bàsiques
URV's Author/s: Domingo Roig, José Luis
Keywords: Toxicity; Sewage; Resistant salmonella-enterica; Metals; Gram-negative bacteria; Genes; Antimicrobial resistance
Abstract: © 2020 Elsevier Inc. Some heavy metals have antimicrobial activity and are considered as potential alternatives to traditional antibiotic therapy. However, heavy metal tolerance genes (HMTG) have been already detected and coding different tolerance mechanisms. Considering that certain metals are promising for antimicrobial therapy, evaluation of HMTG dissemination in bacteria from sewage is essential to understand the evolution of these bacteria and to predict antimicrobial use and control. The present study aimed to evaluate the occurrence of bacteria carrying HMTG in samples of hospital wastewater and from urban wastewater treatment plant (WWTP). The acquired HMTG were investigated by PCR in bacterial collection previously characterized for antibiotic resistant genes (ARGs). HMTG searched include arsB (arsenic efflux pump), czcA (cadmium, zinc and cobalt efflux pump), merA (mercuric reductase), pcoD (copper efflux pump), silA (silver efflux pump) and terF (tellurite resistance protein). Among 45 isolates, 82% of them carried at last one HMTG, in which the silA and pcoD tolerance genes were the most prevalent. A very strong positive correlation was found between these genes (r = 0.91, p < 0.0001). Tolerance genes merA, arsB, czcA and terF were detected in 47%, 13%, 13% and 7% of the isolates, respectively. It was found that 15 isolates co-harbored ARGs (β-lactamase encoding genes). HMTG are probably more dispersed than ARGs in bacteria, representing a new concern for heavy metals use as effective antimicrobials. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study on the HMTG searched in Hafnia alvei, Serratia fonticola and Serratia liquefaciens. Hospital wastewater treatment implementation and additional technologies for treatment in WWTP can reduce the impacts on water resources and HMTG spread, ensureing the environmental and human health safety.
Thematic Areas: Zootecnia / recursos pesqueiros; Saúde coletiva; Química; Public, environmental & occupational health; Public health, environmental and occupational health; Psicología; Planejamento urbano e regional / demografia; Odontología; Medicina iii; Medicina ii; Medicina i; Materiais; Interdisciplinar; Geociências; General medicine; General environmental science; Farmacia; Environmental sciences; Environmental science (miscellaneous); Environmental science (all); Ensino; Engenharias iii; Engenharias ii; Engenharias i; Enfermagem; Educação física; Direito; Ciências biológicas iii; Ciências biológicas ii; Ciências biológicas i; Ciências ambientais; Ciências agrárias i; Ciência de alimentos; Biotecnología; Biodiversidade; Biochemistry; Astronomia / física
licence for use: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/es/
Author's mail: joseluis.domingo@urv.cat
Record's date: 2025-02-19
Paper version: info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersion
Link to the original source: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0013935120312494?via%3Dihub
Licence document URL: https://repositori.urv.cat/ca/proteccio-de-dades/
Paper original source: Environmental Research. 196 (110352): 110352-
APA: Zagui, Guilherme Sgobbi; Moreira, Natalia Columbaro; Santos, Danilo Vitorino; Darini, Ana Lucia Costa; Domingo, Jose L; Segura-Munoz, Susana Ines; And (2021). High occurrence of heavy metal tolerance genes in bacteria isolated from wastewater: A new concern?. Environmental Research, 196(110352), 110352-. DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2020.110352
Article's DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2020.110352
Entity: Universitat Rovira i Virgili
Journal publication year: 2021
Publication Type: Journal Publications
Repositori URV