title: Occurrence and elimination of antibiotic resistance genes in a long-term operation integrated surface flow constructed wetland.
abstract: Wetland construction is a recommended domestic sewage treatment technique, owing to its simplicity and cost efficiency. Concentrations of 14 antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in an integrated surface flow constructed wetland (ICW) steadily operated over 10 years were investigated in the winter and summer. Domestic sewage was observed to be the primary source of ARGs in the ICW, and 77.8% and 59.5% removal rates of total targeted ARGs in the ICW were achieved in the winter and summer, respectively. Concentrations of five ARGs (sul1, tetA, tetC, tetE, and qnrS) in the winter and of six ARGs (sul1, sul3, tetA, tetC, tetE, and qnrS) in the summer were increased throughout the treatment process. Strong correlations were found between ARGs in water and those found in sediments, especially in the summer, indicating that ARGs may be exchanged between water and sediment. Strong positive correlations were also observed between concentrations of intI1 and several ARGs, implying that mobile genetic elements may play a key role in the dissemination of ARGs in an ICW. Our study results suggest aqueous ARGs could be effectively removed via an ICW and that ICWs can also act as reservoirs of specific ARGs.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Poyang Lake Basin Agricultural Resource and Ecology of Jiangxi Province, College of Land Resource and Environment, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang 330045, China.
authors.forename: Hansun
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Poyang Lake Basin Agricultural Resource and Ecology of Jiangxi Province, College of Land Resource and Environment, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang 330045, China.
authors.forename: Qin
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China.
authors.forename: Xiangping
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Nie
authors.affiliation: MOE Key Laboratory of Aquatic Product Safety, School of Marine Sciences, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China.
authors.forename: Baowei
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Poyang Lake Basin Agricultural Resource and Ecology of Jiangxi Province, College of Land Resource and Environment, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang 330045, China.
authors.forename: Yuandong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Science and Technology, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang 330045, China.
authors.forename: Qiubai
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Irrigation Experiment Station of Jiangxi, Nanchang 338026, China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Liao
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Science and Technology, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang 330045, China. Electronic address: willie3@163.com.
authors.forename: Ximei
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liang
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000032:analysis / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D004352:Drug Resistance, Microbial / Q000235:genetics*; D005798:Genes, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics*; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid / Q000379:methods*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D053833:Wetlands
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
keywords: Antibiotic resistance genes; Constructed wetland; Domestic sewage; Occurrence