Sulfonamide resistance gene <i>sul4</i> is hosted by common wastewater sludge bacteria and found in various newly described contexts and hosts.

ABSTRACT: The introduction of the first broad-spectrum antibiotics, sulfonamide drugs, fundamentally revolutionized medicine in the 1930s. Shortly after, and ever since, sulfonamide resistance genes (sul genes) have been widely detected. Still, the most recent variant of these genes, sul4, was first described only in 2017, and its host range and transmission mechanisms are still largely unknown. Here, we applied PacBio long-read metagenomic sequencing and bacterial methylation signals to investigate the genetic contexts and bacterial carriage of the sul4 gene in wastewater. Furthermore, we extended our description of sul4 carriers to previously published data sets. Our results indicate that sul4 is prominently found in sludge and hosted by various bacteria, such as

SUBMITTER: Markkanen M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12772301 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature