Antibiotics or Heavy Metals in Livestock Wastewater: Which One Is the Main Driver for the Development and Spread of Antibiotic Resistance under Coexposure?

Antibiotics and heavy metals are widely used in livestock farming to promote animal health and growth, leading to their frequent co-occurrence as contaminants in livestock wastewater. However, their relative contributions to shaping the antibiotic resistome in treatment systems remain unclear. In this study, we simulated an aerobic activated sludge process treating livestock wastewater containing enrofloxacin and heavy metals (Cu2+ and Zn2+) to evaluate the development of antibiotic resistance using metagenomic and metatranscriptomic approaches. We observed a diverse and transcriptionally active resistome with over half of the detected antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) showing expression. ARG profiles under…

• NN
  National Natural Science Foundation of China

  Awards: 22476108, 22176107
• BF
  Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung

  Award: 01DO2200
• DO
  Department of Education of Guangdong Province

  Award: 2023KCXTD053
• ST
  Science, Technology and Innovation Commission of Shenzhen Municipality

  Award: SGDX20230821091559021
• NK
  National Key Research and Development Program of China

  Award: 2022YFE0103200