EVALUATION OF ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE IN URBAN ENVIRONMENTS

Abstract

THIS STUDY EVALUATES THE OCCURRENCE AND DISTRIBUTION OF ANTIBIOTICS, ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE GENES (ARGS), AND ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE IN URBAN SURFACE WATERS AND SOILS IN SINGAPORE. IN SURFACE WATERS, THE DISTRIBUTION OF ANTIBIOTICS AND ARGS CORRELATES WITH HUMAN ACTIVITIES. SULFAMERAZINE AND SULFAMETHAZINE WERE MAINLY DETECTED IN AGRICULTURAL AREAS, WHILE MACROLIDES WERE MAINLY DETECTED IN RESIDENTIAL AREAS. THE ABUNDANCE OF ERM GENES AND LEVELS OF MACROLIDE-LINCOSAMIDE-STREPTOGRAMIN B (MLSB) ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE WERE RELATIVELY LOW IN LESS ANTHROPOGENICALLY IMPACTED AREAS BUT RELATIVELY HIGH IN AREAS WITH MORE HUMAN ACTIVITIES. THE OCCURRENCE OF ARGS ARE CORRELATED WITH RESIDENTIAL POPULATION DENSITY, POTENTIAL SELECTIVE PRESSURE BY ANTIBIOTICS OF DIFFERENT CLASSES, AND ERM GENE MOBILITY. CONVERSELY, THE SOIL RESISTOME MAY BE MORE RELATED WITH NATURAL ANTIBIOTIC PRODUCTION THAN WITH ANTHROPOGENIC ACTIVITIES. THIS STUDY PROVIDES INFORMATION ON THE EMERGENCE AND DISSEMINATION OF ARGS IN