Open Waste Canals as Potential Sources of Antimicrobial Resistance Genes in Aerosols in Urban Kanpur, India.

ABSTRACT: Understanding the movement of antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs) in the environment is critical to managing their spread. To assess potential ARG transport through the air via urban bioaerosols in cities with poor sanitation, we quantified ARGs and a mobile integron (MI) in ambient air over periods spanning rainy and dry seasons in Kanpur, India (n = 53), where open wastewater canals (OWCs) are prevalent. Gene targets represented major antibiotic groups-tetracyclines (tetA), fluoroquinolines (qnrB), and beta-lactams (blaTEM)-and a class 1 mobile integron (intI1). Over half of air samples located near, and up to 1 km from OWCs with fecal contamination (n = 45) in Kanpur had detectable targets above the experimentally determined limits of detection (LOD): most commonly intI1 and tetA (56%

SUBMITTER: Ginn O 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8103454 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature