Horizontal transmission of a multidrug-resistant IncN plasmid isolated from urban wastewater

Zhuofeng Yu, Qinqin Wang, Rafael Pinilla-Redondo, Jonas Stenløkke Madsen, Kamille Anna Dam Clasen, Hanadi Ananbeh, Asmus Kalckar Olesen, Zhuang Gong, Nan Yang, Arnaud Dechesne, Barth Smets, Joseph Nesme*, Søren Johannes Sørensen*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

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Abstract

Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are considered reservoirs of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs). Given that plasmid-mediated horizontal gene transfer plays a critical role in disseminating ARGs in the environment, it is important to inspect the transfer potential of transmissible plasmids to have a better understanding of whether these mobile ARGs can be hosted by opportunistic pathogens and should be included in One Health’s considerations. In this study, we used a fluorescent-reporter-gene based exogenous isolation approach to capture extended-spectrum beta-lactamases encoding mobile determinants from sewer microbiome samples that enter an urban water system (UWS) in Denmark. After screening and sequencing, we isolated a ∼73 Kbp IncN plasmid (pDK_DARWIN) that harboured and expressed multiple ARGs. Using a dual fluorescent reporter gene system, we showed that this plasmid can transfer into resident urban water communities. We demonstrated the transfer of pDK_DARWIN to microbiome members of both the sewer (in the upstream UWS compartment) and wastewater treatment (in the downstream UWS compartment) microbiomes. Sequence similarity search across curated plasmid repositories revealed that pDK_DARWIN derives from an IncN backbone harboured by environmental and nosocomial Enterobacterial isolates. Furthermore, we searched for pDK_DARWIN sequence matches in UWS metagenomes from three countries, revealing that this plasmid can be detected in all of them, with a higher relative abundance in hospital sewers compared to residential sewers. Overall, this study demonstrates that this IncN plasmid is prevalent across Europe and an efficient vector capable of disseminating multiple ARGs in the urban water systems.
Original languageEnglish
Article number115971
JournalEcotoxicology and Environmental Safety
Volume271
Number of pages12
ISSN0147-6513
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2024

Keywords

  • IncN
  • Plasmids
  • Antibiotic Resistance
  • Horizontal Gene Transfer
  • Urban Wastewater

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