ARES Groundwater surveillance
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the greatest threats to human health. It requires an integrated One Health approach for thorough research and control. However, surveillance of AMR in bacteria is limited to clinical settings both in Croatia and worldwide, while little attention is paid to the environment. Despite the important role of groundwater as a source of drinking water supply, its contribution to the global AMR crisis is still largely unexplored. To fill this gap, the ARES project will adopt a holistic, interdisciplinary approach to investigate the resistome, microbiome, and mobilome of four groundwater sources used for water supply in Croatia. We will apply cultivation-independent methods such as qPCR chips combined with 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing to investigate the resistome and microbiome of groundwater across different seasons. This will allow us to assess temporal trends in the diversity and abundance of the microbiome and resistome in the studied sources. In addition, we will use culture-dependent approaches to assess AMR profiles of clinically important pathogens (Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumanii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Enterococcus spp.) that we will isolate from groundwater. By applying the whole genome sequencing method, we will investigate the molecular mechanisms of resistance and the potential pathogenicity of these isolates. Ultimately, the capture of resistance plasmids directly from groundwater bacteria in E. coli and their subsequent full sequencing will be crucial to draw conclusions about the potential exchange of AMR between environmental reservoirs and human populations. We believe that the findings will provide important insights for the development of management strategies aimed at reducing the occurrence and spread of AMR through drinking water reservoirs
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the greatest threats to human health. It requires an integrated One Health approach for thorough research and control. However, surveillance of AMR in bacteria is limited to clinical settings both in Croatia and worldwide, while little attention is paid to the environment. Despite the important role of groundwater as a source of drinking water supply, its contribution to the global AMR crisis is still largely unexplored. To fill this gap, the ARES project will adopt a holistic, interdisciplinary approach to investigate the resistome, microbiome, and mobilome of four groundwater sources used for water supply in Croatia. We will apply cultivation-independent methods such as qPCR chips combined with 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing to investigate the resistome and microbiome of groundwater across different seasons. This will allow us to assess temporal trends in the diversity and abundance of the microbiome and resistome in the studied sources. In addition, we will use culture-dependent approaches to assess AMR profiles of clinically important pathogens (Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumanii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Enterococcus spp.) that we will isolate from groundwater. By applying the whole genome sequencing method, we will investigate the molecular mechanisms of resistance and the potential pathogenicity of these isolates. Ultimately, the capture of resistance plasmids directly from groundwater bacteria in E. coli and their subsequent full sequencing will be crucial to draw conclusions about the potential exchange of AMR between environmental reservoirs and human populations. We believe that the findings will provide important insights for the development of management strategies aimed at reducing the occurrence and spread of AMR through drinking water reservoirs
Rudjer Boskovic Institute