A Potential Indicator Gene, tetM, to Assess Contamination by Antibiotic Resistance Genes in Greenhouses in South Korea.

Antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) have been emerging as a concerning threat to both environment and public health. The continuous input of manure, irrigation water, and fertilizers increases the abundance of ARGs in agricultural environments. However, current risk assessments have focused on clinical settings, which are not applicable to environmental settings.

Prevalence and Characterization of CRISPR Locus 2.1 Spacers in Escherichia coli Isolates Obtained from Feces of Animals and Humans.

The clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR) has been studied as an immune system in prokaryotes for the survival of bacteriophages. The CRISPR system in prokaryotes records the invasion of bacteriophages or other genetic materials in CRISPR loci. Accordingly, CRISPR loci can reveal a history of infection records of bacteriophages and other genetic materials.

Dynamics of Genotypic and Phenotypic Antibiotic Resistance in a Conventional Wastewater Treatment Plant in 2 Years.

Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are considered a sink and a source of antibiotic resistance. In this study, we applied both culture-dependent and SmartChip-based culture-independent approaches for the investigation of antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB) and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) at Jungnang (JN), located in the Han River, Seoul, South Korea, for 2 years, i.e.

Phylogenetic diversity and spatiotemporal dynamics of bacterial and microeukaryotic plankton communities in Gwangyang Bay of the Korean Peninsula.

Nutrient dynamics function globally, flowing from rivers to the ocean (estuarine-coastal zone), and are vulnerable to climate change. Microbial habitats can be affected by marine nutrient dynamics and may provide a clue to predict microbial responses to environmental heterogeneity in estuarine-coastal zones. We surveyed surface seawater in Gwangyang Bay, a semi-enclosed estuary in Korea, from 2016 to 2018 using a metabarcoding approach with prokaryotic 16S and eukaryotic 18S rRNA genes.

Higher abundance of core antimicrobial resistant genes in effluent from wastewater treatment plants.

Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) receive sewage water from a variety of sources, including livestock farms, hospitals, industries, and households, that contain antimicrobial resistant bacteria (ARB) and antimicrobial resistant genes (ARGs). Current treatment technologies are unable to completely remove ARB and ARGs, which are eventually released into the aquatic environment. This study focused on the core resistome of urban WWTPs that are persistent through wastewater treatment processes.

Emergence of High Level Carbapenem and Extensively Drug Resistant ST746 Producing NDM-5 in Influent of Wastewater Treatment Plant, Seoul, South Korea.

High level carbapenem and extensively drug resistant (XDR) strain N7, which produces a variant of New Delhi metallo-β-lactamase (NDM-5), was isolated from the influent of the Jungnang wastewater treatment plant located on Han River, Seoul, South Korea. Phenotypic and genotypic resistances to carbapenem were tested using agar and broth dilution methods, and polymerase chain reaction. Whole-genome sequencing was performed to characterize the genetic structure of strain N7.

Metagenomic exploration of antibiotic resistome in treated wastewater effluents and their receiving water.

Environmental dissemination of antimicrobial resistance is a global health problem. Antimicrobial-resistant bacteria and antibiotic-resistant genes (ARGs) are constantly released into the environment through effluents (EFs) from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). Thus, requiring a better understanding of the selection and fate of ARGs in wastewater treatment processes.

Metagenomic analysis reveals the prevalence and persistence of antibiotic- and heavy metal-resistance genes in wastewater treatment plant.

The increased antibiotic resistance among microorganisms has resulted into growing interest for investigating the wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) as they are reported to be the major source in the dissemination of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and heavy metal resistance genes (HMRGs) in the environment. In this study, we investigated the prevalence and persistence of ARGs and HMRGs as well as bacterial diversity and mobile genetic elements (MGEs) in influent and effluent at the WWTP in Gwangju, South Korea, using high-throughput sequencing based metagenomic approach. A good number of broad-spectrum of resistance genes (both ARG and HMRG) were prevalent and likely persistent, although large portion of them were successfully removed at the wastewater treatment process.