Antibiotic resistance genes in wastewater - studies on factors critical for assessing the risks.

Antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) can be present in both pathogens and harmless environmental bacteria.

The acquisition of ARGs, often situated on plasmids, by pathogens and their subsequent spread represent a major threat to human health.

Wastewaters have been pointed out as risk environments for development of resistant pathogens as well as for their dissemination to the environment, from where they can reach humans and cause infections. Wastewaters are often analyzed with regard to ARG content in order to assess risks.

Although applied methodologies can be both comprehensive and efficient, they are hampered by an inability to link the detected ARGs to their bacterial hosts. Knowledge about which bacteria are carrying the ARGs is however critical for assessing risks.

Additionally, if pathogens carry certain plasmids it might facilitate the acquisition of others, but if this affects acquisition of ARGs in wastewaters is still unknown.

This project will therefore address the following questions:Which ARGs are disseminated to the environment via wastewater in Sweden?Which are the bacterial hosts of the ARGs present in wastewater?Does pre-carriage of plasmids in pathogens promote acquisition of ARGs in wastewater?The project will fill those knowledge gaps by advancing recently applied methodologies and is thereby expected to generate results and methods important for i) assessing risks regarding ARGs in wastewaters and ii) evaluating mitigating measures.