Influence of wastewater treatment plant effluents on bacterial community composition and antibiotic resistance in the environment

In this study, we used culture-independent approaches to determine the prevalence of antibiotic resistance genes and examine how bacterial communities from biofilm and sediment respond to the discharge of WWTP effluents in the receiving river. Antibiotic resistance genes and bacterial community composition in the upstream river were also analyzed to determine the contribution of wastewater discharge to antibiotic resistance in the downstream river samples.