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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Katie Robins, Dr Greg O'Donnell, Dr Anke Neumann, Professor David GrahamORCiD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
© 2024 The Author(s)Many studies have characterised resistomes in river microbial communities. However, few have compared resistomes in parallel rural catchments that have few point-source inputs of antimicrobial genes (ARGs) and organisms (i.e., AMR) – catchments where one can contrast more nebulous drivers of AMR in rural rivers. Here, we used quantitative microbial profiling (QMP) to compare resistomes and microbiomes in two rural river catchments in Northern England, the Coquet and Eden in Northumberland and Cumbria, respectively, with different hydrological and geographical conditions. The Eden has higher flow rates, higher annual surface runoff, and longer periods of soil saturation, whereas the Coquet is drier and has lower flowrates. QMP analysis showed the Eden contained significantly more abundant microbes associated with soil sources, animal faeces, and wastewater than the Coquet, which had microbiomes like less polluted rivers (Wilcoxon test, p < 0.01). The Eden also had greater ARG abundances and resistome diversity (Kruskal Wallis, p < 0.05), and higher levels of potentially clinically relevant ARGs. The Eden catchment had greater and flashier runoff and more extensive agricultural land use in its middle reach, which explains higher levels of AMR in the river. Hydrological and geographic factors drive AMR in rural rivers, which must be considered in environmental monitoring programmes.
Author(s): Robins K, O'Donnell G, Neumann A, Schmidt W, Hart A, Graham DW
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Science of the Total Environment
Year: 2024
Volume: 928
Print publication date: 10/06/2024
Online publication date: 16/04/2024
Acceptance date: 08/04/2024
Date deposited: 29/04/2024
ISSN (print): 0048-9697
ISSN (electronic): 1879-1026
Publisher: Elsevier B.V.
URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.172348
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.172348
Data Access Statement: Data will be made available on request.
PubMed id: 38614353
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