The effect of subinhibitory concentrations of ampicillin on the spread of associated plasmid mediated resistance genes in laboratory scale sequential batch reactors to model wastewater treatment plants. Genomic data from SBR reactors

As the problem of multi-resistant bacteria grows a better understanding of the spread of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) is of utmost importance for society. Wastewater treatment plants contain subinhibitory concentrations of antibiotics and are thought to be hotspots for antibiotic resistance gene propagation. Here we evaluate the influence of sub-minimal inhibitory concentrations of antibiotics on the spread of resistance genes within the bacterial community in activated sludge laboratory scale sequencing batch reactors. The mixed communities were fed two different ampicillin concentrations (500 and 5000 µg/L) and the reactors were run and monitored for 30 days. During the experiment the β-lactamase resistance gene blaCMY-2 was monitored via qPCR and DNA samples were taken to monitor the effect of ampicillin on the microbial community. The relative copy number of blaCMY-2 in the reactor fed with the sub-minimal inhibitory concentration of 500 µg/L ampicillin was spread out over a wider range of values than the control and 5000 µg/L ampicillin reactors indicating more variability of gene number in the 500 µg/L reactor. This result emphasizes the problem of sub-MIC of antibiotics in wastewater. High-throughput sequencing showed that continuous exposure to ampicillin caused a shift from a Bacteroidetes to Proteobacteria in the bacterial community. The combined use of qPCR and high-throughput sequencing showed that ampicillin stimulates the spread of resistance genes and leads to the propagation of microbial populations which are resistant to it.