Abstract
Antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) are regarded as emerging contaminants related with human activities. Aquatic environments of an urban city are apt for the persistence and prevalence of ARGs. In this study, we investigated the occurrence and distribution of ARGs and integrase genes in the sediment samples collected from drinking water sources, urban rivers, and coastal areas of Zhuhai, China, in the dry and wet seasons of 2016. The results show that sulfonamide resistance gene of sulII was present at the highest detection frequency (85.71%); and its average concentrations were also the highest in both dry and wet seasons (3.78 × 107 and 9.04 × 107 copies/g sediment, respectively), followed by tetC, tetO, tetA, ermB, dfrA1, and blaPSE-1. Temporally, the concentrations of total ARGs in the wet season were likely higher than those in the dry season; and spatially, the concentrations of total ARGs in the drinking water sources were substantially lower than those in the urban rivers and nearby coastal areas, indicating the different degrees of anthropogenic impact and consequent health risks. Positive correlations were found between intI1 and each quantitative ARG in all wet season samples rather than dry season samples, which suggested higher temperature and more rain in summer might have positive influences on ARG dissemination, especially that mediated by intI1 gene and class I integrons.
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Acknowledgments
The authors sincerely thank the following people in sample collection and pretreatment: Mr. Ruchao Li from Zhuhai Environmental Monitoring Station, Mr. Jie Xiong from Zhuhai Jinwan Environmental Monitoring Station, and the graduate students of Weiyi Pan, Jingmiao Wei, and Wanzi Shi from Peking University.
Funding
This study was supported by a project (No. ZHGJ 2016-011) entrusted by Zhuhai Municipality and three projects (Nos. 51678003, 51678334, and 51708253) granted by the Natural Science Foundation of China.
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Li, A., Chen, L., Zhang, Y. et al. Occurrence and distribution of antibiotic resistance genes in the sediments of drinking water sources, urban rivers, and coastal areas in Zhuhai, China. Environ Sci Pollut Res 25, 26209–26217 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-018-2664-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-018-2664-0