Airborne antibiotic resistome and microbiome in pharmaceutical factories.

Antimicrobial resistance is considered to be one of the biggest public health problems, and airborne transmission is an important but under-appreciated pathway for the spread of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in the environment. Previous research has shown pharmaceutical factories to be a major source of ARGs and antibiotic resistant bacteria (ARB) in the surrounding receiving water and soil environments. Pharmaceutical factories are hotspots of antibiotic resistance, but the atmospheric transmission and its environmental risk remain more concerns. Here, we conducted a metagenomic investigation into the airborne microbiome and resistome in three pharmaceutical factories in China. Soil (average: 38.45%) and wastewater (average: 28.53%) were major contributors of airborne resistome. ARGs (vanR/vanS, blaOXA, and CfxA) conferring resistance to critically important clinically used antibiotics were identified in the air samples. The wastewater treatment area had significantly higher relative abundances of ARGs (average: 0.64 copies/16S rRNA). Approximately 28.2% of the detected airborne ARGs were found to be associated with plasmids, and this increased to about 50% in the wastewater treatment area. We have compiled a list of high-risk airborne ARGs found in pharmaceutical factories. Moreover, A total of 1,043 viral operational taxonomic units were identified and linked to 47 family-group taxa. Different CRISPR-Cas immune systems have been identified in bacterial hosts in response to phage infection. Similarly, higher phage abundance (average: 2451.70 PPM) was found in the air of the wastewater treatment area. Our data provide insights into the antibiotic resistance gene profiles and microbiome (bacterial and non-bacterial) in pharmaceutical factories and reveal the potential role of horizontal transfer in the spread of airborne ARGs, with implications for human and animal health.

Noninvasive Stereotactic Radiotherapy for PADN in an Acute Canine Model of Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension.

This study assesses the feasibility, safety, and effectiveness of noninvasive stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) as an approach for pulmonary artery denervation in canine models. SBRT with CyberKnife resulted in reduced mean pulmonary artery pressure, pulmonary capillary wedge pressure, and pulmonary vascular resistance, and insignificantly increased cardiac output. In comparison to the control group, serum norepinephrine levels at 1 month and 6 months were significantly lower in the CyberKnife group. Computed tomography, pulmonary angiography, and histology analysis revealed that SBRT was associated with minimal collateral damage.

Swine farming shifted the gut antibiotic resistome of local people.

Antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) are prevalent in the livestock environment, but little is known about impacts of animal farming on the gut antibiotic resistome of local people. Here we conducted metagenomic sequencing to investigate gut microbiome and resistome of residents in a swine farming village as well as environmental relevance by comparing with a nearby non-farming village. Results showed a shift of gut microbiome towards unhealthy status in the residents of swine farming village, with an increased abundance and diversity in pathogens and ARGs. The resistome composition in human guts was more similar with that in swine feces and air than that in soil and water. Mobile gene elements were closely associated with the prevalence of gut resistome. Some plasmid-borne ARGs were colocalized in similar genetic contexts in gut and environmental samples. Metagenomic binning obtained 47 ARGs-carrying families in human guts, and therein Enterobacteriaceae posed the highest threats in antibiotic resistance and virulence. Several ARGs-carrying families were shared by gut and environmental samples (mainly in swine feces and air), and the ARGs were evolutionarily conservative within genera. The findings highlight that swine farming can shape gut resistome of local people with close linkage to farm environmental exposures.

Swine farm groundwater is a hidden hotspot for antibiotic-resistant pathogenic Acinetobacter.

Acinetobacter is present in the livestock environment, but little is known about their antibiotic resistance and pathogenic species in the farm groundwater. Here we investigated antibiotic resistance of Acinetobacter in the swine farm groundwater (JZPG) and residential groundwater (JZG) of a swine farming village, in comparison to a nearby (3.5 km) non-farming village (WTG) using metagenomic and culture-based approaches. Results showed that the abundance of antibiotic resistome in some JZG and all JZPG (~3.4 copies/16S rRNA gene) was higher than that in WTG (~0.7 copies/16S rRNA gene), indicating the influence of farming activities on both groundwater types. Acinetobacter accounted for ~95.7% of the bacteria in JZG and JZPG, but only ~8.0% in WTG. They were potential hosts of ~95.6% of the resistome in farm affected groundwater, which includes 99 ARG subtypes against 23 antibiotic classes. These ARGs were associated with diverse intrinsic and acquired resistance mechanisms, and the predominant ARGs were tetracyclines and fluoroquinolones resistance genes. Metagenomic binning analysis elucidated that non-baumannii Acinetobacter including A. oleivorans, A. beijerinckii, A. seifertii, A. bereziniae and A. modestus might pose environmental risks because of multidrug resistance, pathogenicity and massive existence in the groundwater. Antibiotic susceptibility tests showed that the isolated strains were resistant to multiple antibiotics including sulfamethoxazole (resistance ratio: 96.2%), levofloxacin (42.5%), gatifloxacin (39.0%), ciprofloxacin (32.6%), tetracycline (32.0%), doxycycline (29.0%) and ampicillin (12.0%) as well as last-resort polymyxin B (31.7%), colistin (24.1%) and tigecycline (4.1%). The findings highlight potential prevalence of groundwater-borne antibiotic-resistant pathogenic Acinetobacter in the livestock environment.

Airborne bacterial community and antibiotic resistome in the swine farming environment: Metagenomic insights into livestock relevance, pathogen hosts and public risks.

Globally extensive use of antibiotics has accelerated antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in the environment. As one of the biggest antibiotic consumers, livestock farms are hotspots in AMR prevalence, especially those in the atmosphere can transmit over long distances and pose inhalation risks to the public. Here, we collected total suspended particulates in swine farms and ambient air of an intensive swine farming area. Bacterial communities and antibiotic resistomes were analyzed using amplicon and metagenomic sequencing approaches. AMR risks and inhalation exposure to potential human-pathogenic antibiotic-resistant bacteria (HPARB) were subsequently estimated with comparison to the reported hospital samples. The results show that swine farms shaped the airborne bacterial community by increasing abundances, reducing diversities and shifting compositions. Swine feces contributed 77% of bacteria to swine farm air, and about 35% to ambient air. Airborne antibiotic resistomes in swine farms mainly conferred resistance to tetracyclines, aminoglycosides and lincosamides, and over 48% were originated from swine feces. Distinct to the hospital air, Firmicutes were dominant bacteria in swine farming environments with conditional pathogens including Clostridium, Streptococcus and Aerococcus being major hosts of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs). Therein, genomes of S. alactolyticus carrying (transposase/recombinase-associated) ARGs and virulence factor genes were retrieved from the metagenomes of all swine feces and swine farm air samples, but they were not detected in any hospital air samples. This suggests the indication of S. alactolyticus in swine farming environments with potential hazards to human health. Swine farm air faced higher AMR risks than hospital air and swine feces. The inhalation intake of HPARB by a swine farm worker was about three orders of magnitude higher than a person who works in the hospital. Consequently, this study depicted atmospheric transmission of bacteria and antibiotic resistomes from swine feces to the environment.

Ultrasound-assisted desalination of crude oil: The influence of mixing extent, crude oil species, chemical demulsifier and operation variables.

Coalescence of water droplets in crude oil has been effectively promoted by chemical demulsifiers integrated with ultrasound. Temporary images of water droplets in W/O emulsions were directly monitored using a metallurgical microscope. Water droplets achieved expansion of 118% at 40 min ultrasonic irradiation time under well mixing conditions. However, water droplets in heavy crude oil undergo less aggregation than those in light crude oil, due to resistance of mobility in highly viscous fluid. In the absence of chemical demulsifiers, water droplets enveloped by native surfactants appeared to aggregate arduously because of occurrence of interfacial tension gradients. Influential significance analyses have been executed by a factorial design method on operation variables, including acoustic power intensity, operation temperature, ultrasonic irradiation time and chemical demulsifier dosages. In this work, the outcomes indicate that the optimal operating conditions for desalination of crude oil assisted by ultrasound were as follows: acoustic power intensity = 300 W, operation temperature = 90℃, ultrasonic irradiation time = 75 min and chemical demulsifier dosages = 54 mg/L. Besides, it was found that the most influential importance of operation parameter was temperature, followed with acoustic power intensity, ultrasonic irradiation time and chemical demulsifier dosages.

Antibiotics, antibiotic resistance genes and microbial community in grouper mariculture.

Increasing use of feed and medicine in mariculture could cause negative environmental impacts such as habitat modification, microbial disease development and antibiotic resistance. Here we investigated contamination of antibiotics and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), and composition of microbial community in grouper mariculture systems in Hainan province, China. Results showed detection of various antibiotic residues with the dominance of fluoroquinolones and tetracyclines in the six grouper cultivation systems. The concentrations of the detected antibiotics in the grouper mariculture water were significantly higher than those in the original seawater. Some of the detected antibiotics such as enrofloxacin, ciprofloxacin, ofloxacin, oxytetracycline and erythromycin in the mariculture water and/or sediment would pose high resistance selection risks. Sulfonamides resistance genes sul1 and sul2 were found to be predominant in water and sediment, while tetracycline resistance genes were prevalent in fish gill and gut. The dominant bacterial phyla in water and sediments were Bacteroides, Actinomycetes, and Proteobacteria, while the dominant ones in fish gill and gut were the Proteobacteria. Genera of Vibrio and Mycobacterium in the core microbiota were important zoonotic pathogens, and there was a significant positive correlation between Vibrio and ARGs. Phyla of Proteobacteria, Actinomyces, and Cyanobacteria were positively correlated to ARGs, indicating that these microorganisms are potential hosts of ARGs. The putative functions of microbiome related to antibiotic resistance and human diseases were significantly higher in fish than in the mariculture environment. This study suggests that mariculture system is a reservoir of ARGs, and the use of antibiotics in mariculture could induce the increase of antibiotic resistance and the prevalence of opportunistic pathogens.

Complete nucleotide sequence of jasmine virus H, a new member of the family Tombusviridae.

Jasmine virus H (JaVH) is a novel virus associated with symptoms of yellow mosaic on jasmine. The JaVH genome is 3,867 nt in length with five open reading frames (ORFs) encoding a 27-kDa protein (ORF 1), an 87-kDa replicase protein (ORF 2), two centrally located movement proteins (ORF 3 and 4), and a 37-kDa capsid protein (ORF 5). Based on genomic and phylogenetic analysis, JaVH is predicted to be a member of the genus Pelarspovirus in the family Tombusviridae.