{"database":"biostudies-literature","file_versions":[],"scores":null,"additional":{"submitter":["Zhu C"],"funding":["National Natural Science Foundation of China","National Science Foundation (NSF)","National Natural Science Foundation of China (National Science Foundation of China)","National Science Foundation"],"pagination":["4006"],"full_dataset_link":["https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC12041579"],"repository":["biostudies-literature"],"omics_type":["Unknown"],"volume":["16(1)"],"pubmed_abstract":["Antibiotic resistance poses a significant threat to human health, and wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are important reservoirs of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs). Here, we analyze the antibiotic resistomes of 226 activated sludge samples from 142 WWTPs across six continents, using a consistent pipeline for sample collection, DNA sequencing and analysis. We find that ARGs are diverse and similarly abundant, with a core set of 20 ARGs present in all WWTPs. ARG composition differs across continents and is distinct from that of the human gut and the oceans. ARG composition strongly correlates with bacterial taxonomic composition, with Chloroflexi, Acidobacteria and Deltaproteobacteria being the major carriers. ARG abundance positively correlates with the presence of mobile genetic eleme"],"journal":["Nature communications"],"pubmed_title":["Global diversity and distribution of antibiotic resistance genes in human wastewater treatment systems."],"pmcid":["PMC12041579"],"funding_grant_id":["32371724","EF-2025558","82202299","61872218"],"pubmed_authors":["Wen X","Wu L","Wang A","de Abreu Mac Conell EF","Stephens K","Hu Z","de Sousa OV","Wang B","Sun C","Lee ZM","Wakelin S","Zhang Q","Brewster RK","Griffin JS","Bux F","Guo J","Gu AZ","Nielsen PH","Hale L","Tiedje JM","Curtis TP","Wang Y","Chen S","Zhang C","Zhang B","Johnson DR","Chen T","Rittmann BE","Sidhu J","Acevedo D","Horn H","Yang M","Wagner M","He Q","Zheng W","Harmon M","Bovio-Winkler P","Li M","de Araujo JC","Mendonca-Hagler LC","Alvarez PJJ","Cabezas A","Li Y","Yang Y","Li Z","Tu Q","He Z","Meyers AJ","Global Water Microbiome Consortium","Criddle CS","Bond P","Young M","Gao S","Agullo-Barcelo M","Weaver JE","Gomez JS","Marcantini DG","Alvarez-Cohen L","Leal CD","Habagil M","de Menezes FGR","Liu Y","Brown MR","Reginatto V","Wells GF","Woo SG","Stahl DA","Etchebehere C","de Los Reyes FL","Zhao J","Xi C","Zhou H","Zhou J","Wu JH","Van Nostrand JD","Parameswaran P","Yan T","Zhuang W","Rossetti S","Ning D","Smith K","Zhu C","Bott CB","Zhang W","Xiao N","Ju F","Keucken A","Tooker NB","Kumari S","Palmer A","Zhang Y","Boehnke K","Cabrol L","Tian R","Ford A","West S"],"additional_accession":[]},"is_claimable":false,"name":"Global diversity and distribution of antibiotic resistance genes in human wastewater treatment systems.","description":"Antibiotic resistance poses a significant threat to human health, and wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are important reservoirs of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs). Here, we analyze the antibiotic resistomes of 226 activated sludge samples from 142 WWTPs across six continents, using a consistent pipeline for sample collection, DNA sequencing and analysis. We find that ARGs are diverse and similarly abundant, with a core set of 20 ARGs present in all WWTPs. ARG composition differs across continents and is distinct from that of the human gut and the oceans. ARG composition strongly correlates with bacterial taxonomic composition, with Chloroflexi, Acidobacteria and Deltaproteobacteria being the major carriers. ARG abundance positively correlates with the presence of mobile genetic eleme","dates":{"release":"2025-01-01T00:00:00Z","publication":"2025 Apr","modification":"2026-06-02T20:42:55.055Z","creation":"2025-07-06T03:05:55.792Z"},"accession":"S-EPMC12041579","cross_references":{"pubmed":["40301344"],"doi":["10.1038/s41467-025-59019-3"]}}