Abstract
Bacteriophages, or phages, are ubiquitous bacterial and archaeal viruses with an estimated total global population of 1031. It is well-known that wherever there are bacteria, their phage counterparts will be found, aiding in shaping the bacterial population. The present study used metagenomic data from global influent sewage in 79 cities in 60 countries to identify phages associated with bacteria and to explore their potential role in antimicrobial resistance gene (ARG) dissemination. The reads were mapped to known databases for bacteriophages and their abundances determined and correlated to geographic origin and the countries socio-economic status, as well as the abundances of bacterial species and ARG. We found that some phages were not equally distributed on a global scale, but their distribution was rather dictated by region and the socioeconomic status of the specific countries. This study provides a preliminary insight into the global and regional distribution of phages and their potential impact on the transmission of ARGs between bacteria. Moreover, the findings may indicate that phages in sewage could have adopted a lytic lifestyle, meaning that most may not be associated with bacteria and instead may be widely distributed as free-living phages, which are known to persist longer in the environment than their hosts. In addition, a significant correlation between phages and ARGs was obtained, indicating that phages may play a role in ARG dissemination. However, further analyses are needed to establish the true relationship between phages and ARGs due to a low abundance of the phages identified.
Highlights
Bacteriophages, or phages, are ubiquitous bacterial and archaeal viruses with an estimated total global population of 1031
Transduction of antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs) in clinical settings occurs at extremely low frequencies of approximately 10–9 and 10–7 transductants/pfu for specialised and generalised transduction, respectively[4]
Metagenomic shotgun analyses have become a popular means of achieving ARGs surveillance, and sewage has proven an enriched, anthropogenic, and ethical source of information, especially in monitoring pathogens and the spread of ARGs11–13
Summary
Bacteriophages, or phages, are ubiquitous bacterial and archaeal viruses with an estimated total global population of 1031. Bacteriophages are ubiquitous bacterial and archaeal viruses, with an estimated total global population of more than 1031, surpassing that of bacteria (1029) making them the most abundant biological entities in the biosphere. Their genomes, ranging from 2.4 to 735 kb[1,2], consist of either DNA or RNA which can be single-stranded (ss) or double-stranded (ds). The role of transduction for gene transfer within a clinical setting is well-established, and there is growing evidence that phages, through transduction, aid in the dissemination of ARGs in the e nvironment[5,6,7,8] This is still controversial as contrasting research indicates that the number of phage-encoded ARGs is o verestimated[9]. As many residual antimicrobials are detectable in urban sewage due to either inappropriate disposal or incomplete metabolism such as fluoroquinolones, which are excreted unchanged through
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