Pharmaceutical interactions with microbiota in Water Chestnut (Trapa natans) beds of the Hudson River

Pharmaceuticals contaminate waterways worldwide following release from wastewater treatment plants. Once in aquatic environments, pharmaceuticals can interact with microbes which are essential for key ecosystem processes and lead to spread of antimicrobial resistance. This is concerning for both human and whole ecosystem health. Cami investigated pharmaceutical interactions with microbes in water chestnut beds of the Hudson River. She found pharmaceuticals can decrease denitrification and respiration rates, alter microbial communities and the abundance of functional and resistance genes. She discovered aquatic microbiota can enter a dormancy phase to survive pharmaceutical exposure, which is promising for maintaining microbial diversity and ecosystem processes.