Wastewater treatment plant effluent metagenome Raw sequence reads

Dissolved free extracellular DNA (exDNA), which is DNA released outside the cell is present in the aquatic environment. exDNA in the aquatic environment is present at very low concentrations and passes through the 0.22 µm filter. Thus, information on exDNA is scarce, and it is unknown what genes exDNA contains. We developed a process for recovering exDNA by concentrating exDNA adsorbed on colloids to a high concentration and dissolving the colloids with acid using the colloidal adsorption and foam concentration method. Several antibiotic resistance genes, viral genes, and plasmids were found in exDNA, revealing some of the functions of exDNA. This exDNA information revealed in this study will contribute to the elucidation of the mechanism of horizontal gene transfer in aquatic environments.