Community composition of various biosolids obtained from german wastewater treatment plants.. WWTP biosolids

Soil fertilization with biosolids from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) inherits the risk of disseminating resistance genes (RGs), mobile genetic elements (MGEs) and potentially selective pollutants (antibiotics [ABs], heavy metals, biocides) into soil. However, only few data are available on the parallel analysis of biosolid pollutant contents and RG/MGE abundances. In present study, total community (TC)-DNA of biosolids from 12 WWTPs (one large-scale and 11 small-/middle-scale) was analyzed for the abundance of RGs and MGEs via quantitative real-time PCR or PCR-Southern blot hybridization and concentrations of heavy metals, ABs and the biocides triclosan (TCS), triclocarban (TCC) and quaternary ammonium compounds were determined, together with prokaryotic community.