An unignorable human health risk posed by antibiotic resistome and microbiome in urban rivers: Insights from Beijing, China

Linmei Liu; Ganghui Zhu; Jingdan Hu; Haiyang Chen; Yuanzheng Zhai

doi:10.1016/j.envres.2025.120752

An unignorable human health risk posed by antibiotic resistome and microbiome in urban rivers: Insights from Beijing, China

Environ Res. 2025 Jan 2:268:120752. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2025.120752. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Linmei Liu¹, Ganghui Zhu², Jingdan Hu¹, Haiyang Chen³, Yuanzheng Zhai⁴

Affiliations

¹ College of Water Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China.
² Technical Centre for Soil, Agriculture and Rural Ecology and Environment, Ministry of Ecology and Environment of the People's Republic of China, Beijing, 100012, China.
³ College of Water Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China. Electronic address: Chen.haiyang@bnu.edu.cn.
⁴ College of Water Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China. Electronic address: zyz@bnu.edu.cn.

PMID: 39755199
DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2025.120752

Abstract

Urban rivers are the main water bodies humans frequently come into contact with, so the risks posed are closely monitored. Antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) residues in reclaimed water pose serious risks to human health. There are urgent needs to improve the understanding of distribution of and risks posed by ARGs in urban rivers. In this study, shotgun metagenomic approach was used to characterize ARGs, mobile genetic elements (MGEs), and virulence factors (VFs) in water and sediment from Xinfeng River in Beijing and to identify microbes, potential antibiotic resistant bacteria, and human pathogens (HPs). MGE, microbial community, VF, and ARG co-occurrences were used to assess the environmental risks posed by ARGs. The results indicated that quinolone was the most abundant ARG type and that tufA and fusA were the two dominant ARG subtypes. Wetland effluent increased ARG abundance in the river, and the effect was detected even 50 m downstream. ARG abundances and distribution in the river had difference in different seasons. The dominant bacteria in the river were Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Actinobacteria, and 59 HPs were detected. In total, 69 MGEs and 19 VFs were found. Co-occurrence networks indicated that potential antibiotic resistant bacteria, MGEs, VFs, and ARGs in the river significantly correlated, indicating the potential risks posed by ARGs. The results improve our understanding of ARG distribution and environmental risks in urban river water. More attention should be paid to controlling environmental risks posed by ARGs in urban river and reclaimed water.

Keywords: Antibiotic resistance gene; Environmental risk; Human pathogen; Microbial community; Reclaimed water; Urban river.