Article
Infectious Diseases
Federica Mauri, Elisa Pianta
Summary: This study monitored the presence of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in water samples from a subalpine lake and rivers in Switzerland. The results showed that ARGs were present in the water environment and could potentially be transmitted to humans. The most abundant ARGs were sulII, followed by ermB, qnrS, and tetA, and there was an overall decrease in the number of resistance genes over the three-year monitoring period.
JOURNAL OF GLOBAL ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Thitima Srathongneam, Montakarn Sresung, Phongsawat Paisantham, Pacharaporn Ruksakul, Andrew C. Singer, Rojana Sukchawalit, Jutamaad Satayavivad, Skorn Mongkolsuk, Kwanrawee Sirikanchana
Summary: This study analyzes the prevalence of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in various water environments in Thailand using high-throughput qPCR. The study reveals a widespread presence of ARGs in different water types, suggesting a circulation of resistance determinants across the aquatic environment. The study also highlights the higher abundance of ARGs in effluent and river water, indicating possible inadequate wastewater treatment and environmental contamination. Seasonal impacts on wastewater treatment practices and pollution patterns are also observed.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2024)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Ioannis D. Kampouris, Uli Kluemper, Shelesh Agrawal, Laura Orschler, Damiano Cacace, Steffen Kunze, Thomas U. Berendonk
Summary: This study investigated the impact of treated wastewater (TWW) irrigation on antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in subsoil pore-water, finding that TWW irrigation increases ARG prevalence. The hypothesis was validated through field and laboratory experiments, showing that TWW irrigation promoted the spread of ARGs in subsoil pore-water.
ENVIRONMENT INTERNATIONAL
(2021)
Article
Infectious Diseases
Maria-Theresia Gekenidis, Fiona Walsh, David Drissner
Summary: This study analyzed the contribution of surface and tap water to the resistome of overhead-irrigated chive plants and found that water quality significantly affects the resistome of irrigated produce. Water played a major role in antibiotic resistance gene enrichment, especially beta-lactam ARGs and MGEs. Various antibiotic resistance genes were identified in both water sources and chive plants, with bla(KPC) detected at high levels in both.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Guangshui Na, Keyu Zhang, Hui Gao, Ruijing Li, Shuaichen Jin, Fuqiang Zhao, Haibo Zhang, Shisheng Li
Summary: Antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) are considered emerging pollutants related to human activities, with urbanization exacerbating global health risks. Urban and rural environments have diverse effects on the source and distribution of ARGs. The study found higher abundance and diversity of ARGs and mobile genetic elements in urban river sediments, with mobile genetic elements being significantly correlated with ARGs abundance and diversity.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Sadia Khan, Atif Mustafa
Summary: The presence of blaNDM-1 antibiotic resistance genes and other resistant bacteria in drinking water highlights the need for continuous monitoring and control to protect public health and ecosystems.
WATER AND ENVIRONMENT JOURNAL
(2021)
Review
Environmental Sciences
Rui Zhang, Shu Yang, Yuwei An, Yangqing Wang, Yu Lei, Liyan Song
Summary: Landfill serves as important reservoirs for antibiotics and antibiotic resistance genes, with risks of transferring to the local environment. Studies have shown complex linkages among antibiotics, ARGs, and bacterial communities, highlighting the need for further research.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Bo Li, Tao Yan
Summary: The study compared the performance of dye-based qPCR and probe-based qPCR assays for the detection of bla(KPC) and mcr-1 in activated sludge (AS) samples, revealing that dye-based qPCR assays may lead to false-positive detection of bla(KPC) and mcr-1 compared to the probe-based qPCR results. Next generation sequencing (NGS) identified primer dimers and non-specific amplicons as the primary causes for the false-positive detection.
APPLIED MICROBIOLOGY AND BIOTECHNOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
G. Y. Liyanage, A. Illango, Pathmalal M. Manage
Summary: Nearly 80% of the population in the Colombo district rely on the Kelani river for their major needs, but recent studies have shown contamination of groundwater and surface water with waterborne pathogens and antibiotics. The study identified nine antibiotic resistance genes, with high levels of penicillin and tetracycline resistance genes found in the lower part of the Kelani river basin. Regular monitoring and water quality management are essential to protect the drinking water quality in this area.
WATER AIR AND SOIL POLLUTION
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Hai-Yan Zou, Liang-Ying He, Fang-Zhou Gao, Min Zhang, Shuai Chen, Dai-Ling Wu, You-Sheng Liu, Lu-Xi He, Hong Bai, Guang-Guo Ying
Summary: Mining activities are known to generate a large amount of mine tailings and mine drainage containing various heavy metals, which can lead to increased bacterial antibiotic resistance. This study found higher abundances of antibiotic resistance genes in mining-affected water, especially sulfonamides, chloramphenicols, and tetracyclines resistance genes, with positive correlations between heavy metals and ARGs. Additionally, the microbial community composition differed between mining-affected water and reference water, with certain dominant phyla being identified as potential hosts for the ARGs.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Shuqun Li, Zhiguang Niu, Ying Zhang
Summary: Biofilms in the drinking water distribution system are important for microorganisms and promote the spread of antibiotic resistance. Current research on antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in these biofilms mainly focuses on intracellular ARGs (iARGs), lacking understanding of extracellular ARGs (eARGs), iARGs, and bacterial community in different biofilm layers. This study analyzed the abundance of eARGs/iARGs and bacterial composition in biofilms from two identical reactors. The results showed higher relative abundance of eARGs compared to iARGs, with residual chlorine increasing the total abundances of both eARGs and iARGs. Knowledge from this study is beneficial for assessing the risk and controlling the dissemination of ARGs.
JOURNAL OF WATER PROCESS ENGINEERING
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Jun Yang, Jinyi Xiang, Yu Xie, Kaifeng Yu, Junnan Li, Haoyan Wang, Peng Li, Karina Yew-Hoong Gin, Yiliang He
Summary: Leachate is a significant reservoir for antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and proper treatment is crucial for human health and ecosystem safety. In this study, high-throughput qPCR was used to investigate the removal of ARGs in full-scale leachate treatment plants (LTPs), revealing the importance of anaerobic digestion and membrane bioreactor processes. Integrated membrane filtration (UF-NF-RO) showed excellent removal efficiency of ARGs, reducing their absolute abundances by 3 to 6 orders of magnitude.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Xiaoshi Cheng, Le Zhang, Zhicheng Wei, Gang Zhao, Jun Tai, Wei Du, Feng Wang, Qian Feng, Jiashun Cao, Yinglong Su, Jingyang Luo
Summary: This study investigated the effects of different pretreatment approaches on the removal of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) during anaerobic fermentation of waste activated sludge. The results showed that pretreatments had significant impacts on the overall removal of ARGs, with Fe2+ activated persulfate (PS/Fe2+) having the highest removal efficiency. Mechanistic analysis revealed that pretreatments disrupted extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) and increased cell membrane permeability, leading to the release of ARGs and subsequent reduction of mobile genetic elements (MGEs) and extracellular ARGs. The study also found that pretreatments altered the microbial community structure and the abundances of potential ARGs hosts.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Simon Bo Lassen, Md Emranul Ahsan, Seikh Razibul Islam, Xin-Yuan Zhou, Muhammad Abdur Razzak, Jian-Qiang Su, Kristian Koefoed Brandt
Summary: The study revealed a significant presence of ARGs in commercial aquaculture ponds in Bangladesh, with multidrug resistance genes being the most common. Research ponds managed by the Bangladesh Agricultural University showed the lowest abundance and diversity of ARGs. The composition of ARGs displayed a distinct biogeographical pattern, potentially influenced by different feed types.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Xiaojing Lin, Aiping Tan, Yuting Deng, Wenwen Liu, Fei Zhao, Zhibin Huang
Summary: The abundance and transmission of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in aquaculture have become a public health concern, and further research is needed to understand their distribution and spread.
FRONTIERS IN MARINE SCIENCE
(2023)
Review
Environmental Sciences
Jing Ding, Min Lv, Dong Zhu, Eva F. Leifheit, Qing-Lin Chen, Yun-Qing Wang, Ling-Xin Chen, Matthias C. Rillig, Yong-Guan Zhu
Summary: Tire wear particles (TWP) have caused widespread contamination in the environment. This study aims to understand the behavior and potential impacts of TWP in soil ecosystems. By synthesizing existing knowledge and comparing with the effects of microplastics (MP), the study outlines the composition, distribution, and behavior of TWP in soils, and highlights the potential impacts on soil biota and the underlying mechanisms. The study suggests that more research is needed to clarify the behavior and impacts of TWP at different levels, from individual organisms to the Earth system, as TWP may pose as an emerging threat to soil health.
CRITICAL REVIEWS IN ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Yitian Yu, Qi Zhang, Zhenyan Zhang, Shuyidan Zhou, Mingkang Jin, Dong Zhu, Xiaoru Yang, Haifeng Qian, Tao Lu
Summary: Knowledge of the dissemination and emergence of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in the plant rhizosphere is important for evaluating the risk they pose to soil planetary health. In this study, we analyzed the changes in the rhizosphere antibiotic resistome during the enrichment process of the rhizosphere microbiome in Arabidopsis thaliana. We found that plants selectively enriched beneficial bacteria with many ARGs, and the wheat rhizosphere had a higher abundance of ARGs compared to other crops. These findings highlight the potential threat to human health from the dissemination of ARGs, despite their beneficial functions in the plant rhizosphere.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Yuanbo Liu, Haiqiang Chen, Jichang Chen, Lanjuan Liao, Fuyi Huang, Youming Sun, Xiangcheng Li
Summary: This paper proposes a novel low complexity symmetric-coded based sphere decoding algorithm for short polar codes with low rate. By selecting frozen bits and information bits, as well as performing backtrack operations, the algorithm can achieve (sub)optimal solutions with reduced computational complexity for maximum likelihood detection. Simulation results show that the algorithm can reduce the average visited nodes to 0.9% for the polar code P(64, 14) at SNR = 1 dB with a performance loss within 0.2 dB.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2023)
Article
Microbiology
Yifang Zhang, Xiaomin Li, Lu Lu, Fuyi Huang, Hao Liu, Yu Zhang, Luhua Yang, Muhammad Usman, Shun Li
Summary: Studies on microbial communities associated with foliage in natural ecosystems have rarely focused on urban ecosystems, despite an increase in recent years. This study investigated the effects of urbanization on the phyllosphere microbial communities of camphor trees in eight parks along a suburban-to-urban gradient. The results showed that urbanization can strongly reduce the complexity and species richness of the phyllosphere microbial network of camphor trees, and that leaf total carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur, as well as leaf C/N, soil pH, and artificial light intensity at night were important drivers in determining the divergence of phyllosphere microbial communities across the urbanization gradient.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Fu-Yi Huang, Yi Zhao, Roy Neilson, Xin-Yuan Zhou, Hu Li, Lei Ding, Shu-Yi-Dan Zhou, Jian-Qiang Su
Summary: This study evaluated the distribution of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in peri-urban groundwater and its associated water sources. It was found that the relative abundances of ARGs and mobile genetic elements (MGEs) were higher in river samples compared to spring water and groundwater samples. The resistome profiles were similar between groundwater and spring water, but different from river samples. Source tracking results suggested that the groundwater resistome likely originated from both springs and rivers, consistent with the source tracking of bacterial communities.
ECOTOXICOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Huiling Cui, Dong Zhu, Longjun Ding, Yifei Wang, Jianqiang Su, Guilan Duan, Yongguan Zhu
Summary: Paddy soils are potential hotspots for combined contamination with arsenic and antibiotics. This study investigated the dynamic response of As biotransformation genes (ABGs) and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in paddy soils. The results showed that As stress increased the abundance of ARGs and mobile genetic elements (MGEs), posing a risk of antimicrobial resistance dissemination. Manure amendment increased the abundance of ABGs, enhancing As mobilization and methylation, and posing a risk to food safety.
JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Xiaoting Fan, Jianqiang Su, Shuyidan Zhou, Xinli An, Hu Li
Summary: The global rise in antibiotic resistance among pathogenic microorganisms poses a significant threat to human health. Fresh vegetables have been identified as an important pathway for the transfer of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) from the environment to humans. This study found that plant cultivars significantly influence the abundance and composition of bacteria and mobile genetic elements (MGEs) in the phyllosphere. The relative abundance of potential bacterial pathogens was higher in the phyllosphere compared to soils. Furthermore, the patterns of ARGs were significantly correlated with the patterns of potential bacterial pathogens. These findings highlight the importance of controlling the risk of foodborne ARGs and suggest the need for more agricultural and hygiene protocols.
JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Construction & Building Technology
Bing Zhao, Guangjin Wang, Kui Zhao, Menglai Wang, Bisheng Wu, Shujian Li, Qinglin Chen, Jiabo Geng
Summary: Incorporating a proper amount of phosphogypsum (PG) can significantly improve the mechanical properties and water impermeability of steam-cured fly ash (FA) mortar. The 1-d and 28-d compressive strengths of samples increase by 11% and 5.37%, respectively, when 10% of PG is added. Moreover, using an appropriate amount of PG also brings obvious economic and environmental benefits.
CONSTRUCTION AND BUILDING MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Zhiyang Lie, Wenjuan Huang, Guoyi Zhou, Deqiang Zhang, Junhua Yan, Jun Jiang, Roy Neilson, Shuyidan Zhou, Wanjun Zhang, Luis Carlos Ramos Aguila, Guowei Chu, Shizhong Liu, Ze Meng, Qianmei Zhang, Juxiu Liu
Summary: Acid deposition has been decreasing in China since the 2000s, which may help mitigate acidification in forest soils and water. However, little is known about the recovery of soils and water from previous severe acidification in tropical China. This study assessed the chemistry of mineral soils, water, and acid gases in tropical China from 2000 to 2022 and found that soil and water pH gradually increased during the monitoring period. The recovery of acidified soil and water has the potential to benefit environmental recovery in acid-sensitive forests of tropical China.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Jing Ding, Min Lv, Qiaoning Wang, Dong Zhu, Qing-Lin Chen, Xiao-Qiang Li, Chang-Ping Yu, Xiangrong Xu, Lingxin Chen, Yong-Guan Zhu
Summary: The impact of tire tread particles (TPs) on soil fauna remains poorly understood. However, this study found that TPs affect the gut microbiota, intestinal histopathology, and metabolites of soil worms through both particulate- and leachate-induced effects, with leachates exerting stronger effects. Furthermore, the study demonstrated that brand-specific toxicity and leachate compositions play a dominant role in TP toxicity.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Thi Bao-Anh Nguyen, Michael Bonkowski, Kenneth Dumack, Qing-Lin Chen, Ji-Zheng He, Hang-Wei Hu
Summary: This study investigated the response of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in soil to predation pressure from protists. The results showed that an increase in protistan predation pressure was associated with higher abundance and diversity of ARGs in the soil. High concentrations of protists significantly increased the abundance of genes encoding multidrug and tetracycline resistance, as well as the abundance of certain bacterial genera.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Hongyun Ren, Xian Zhang, Yi Li, Dandan Zhang, Fuyi Huang, Zixing Zhang
Summary: In this study, a new frozen section technique was developed for preparing cross-sectional membrane samples. The optimized parameters for the technique, including the embedding medium, cryostat working temperature, and sectioning thickness, were determined. The SEM characterizations showed that this new technique was efficient for preparing membrane samples and compared favorably with conventional methods.
Article
Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence
Fuyi Huang, Sheng Zhang, Wei Xing Zheng
Summary: This article proposes Bayesian-learning-based DLMS (BL-DLMS) algorithms to improve the learning performance of the conventional DLMS algorithms. The BL-DLMS algorithms are inferred from a Gaussian state-space model-based Bayesian learning perspective, providing a variable step-size and an estimation of the uncertainty for each node. Control methods are designed to improve tracking performance in sudden change scenarios. The algorithms are analyzed for stability and mean square performance in nonstationary scenarios.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON NEURAL NETWORKS AND LEARNING SYSTEMS
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic
Fuyi Huang, Sheng Zhang, Jiashu Zhang, Hongyang Chen, Ali H. Sayed
Summary: This paper proposes a family of diffusion Bayesian decorrelation least mean squares (DBDLMS) algorithms based on decorrelated observation models, which addresses the conflicting requirements of fast convergence rate and small steady-state error. The weight update equations and decorrelation coefficient vectors update equations are obtained through Bayesian inference, and a simple approach is derived to estimate the free parameters for the proposed algorithms.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON SIGNAL PROCESSING
(2023)
