Wastewater Treatment Plants as emerging source of antibiotic resistance

Abstract

Abstract Antimicrobial agents, such as antibiotics, are being used extensively in human and veterinary medicine, and often as part of routine agricultural production which has significantly contributed to the emergence of antimicrobial resistance. Following the socioecological interface, antibiotic-resistant genes are being bioaccumulated in the biosphere. Inadequacy and lack of stringent waste disposal facilities have evolved as a potential source of antimicrobial resistance dissemination. By processing waste from a variety of sources, Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTPs) may constitute a hotspot for horizontal gene transfer between bacteria of diverse origins. There are multiple links between the human, animal, and environmental compartments that allow not only movement of the bacteria but also of Mobile Genetic Elements and the drugs themselves. Many of the known antibiotic resistance genes are found on transposons, integrons, or plasmids, which can be mobilized and transferred to other bacteria of the same or different species. Additionally, antibiotics have also been detected in sewage effluents, sewage sludge, and soil. Unarguably, the fate of antibiotics is an immediate addressable issue as it contributes to antibiotic-resistant pathogens and ecotoxicological consequences. Seemingly important, the emergence of antibiotics and its associated risks in the environment is estimated by Expected Introductory Concentration and Predicted Environmental Concentration. Concludingly, it is envisaged that the usage of antibiotics and its derivatives should be strictly monitored. Besides, insights into high-throughput bacterial diversity–based analysis utilizing tools of metagenomics, transcriptomics, and metabolomics should be studied for the screening of resistomes and particularly the mobility of resistomes among different biotic resources should be plausibly identified to circumvent this massive outbreak of antibiotic resistance which is spreading by leaps and bounds.