The eutrophication of open water bodies, especially coastal oceans, resulting from sewage water discharge has become a global issue with intensive public concerns. Microbial Biological treatment of sewage water ensures that pollutants are oxidized or chelated and released as nontoxic derivatives is commonly used to decompose organic pollutants in industrial and domestic wastewater. Discharge of wastewater effluents into open receiving water bodies, especially coastal oceans, inadvertently induces microbes to the water. The environmental impact of wastewater microbial treatment towards wastes, particularly in regard to the spread of antibiotic resistant gene and pathogenicity in coastal water, remains largely unknown. Our efforts to the determine microbial composition and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) of spread of the coastal waters of Bohai Bay, North China began with the examination in the metabolic features related to the presence of ARGs in the coastal area adjacent to a local sewage treatment plant. This study shows that enrichment of Pseudomonadale species that are antibiotic resistant occurred at the estuarine site locating adjacent to a coastal sewage treatment plant. Further analysis suggests the percent ratio of Pseudomonadale species to total Proteobacteria in the examined stations is similar to a number of sampling stations close to sewage treatment plants, where the consistent release of organic wastes occurred. We hypothesize those sewage treatment facilities created oxidoreductive stress allowing the enrichment of Pseudomonadale species (and subsequently the spread of associated resistance gene and pathogenicity) during the oxidation treatment of wastewater. At the global scale, this enrichment may contribute to the potential health risks of the ever-polarized precipitation and increased infection of the general population in a variety of means.

Saturation of Pseudomonadale species caused by microbial treatment of coastal organic waste

ACS Fall 2021

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