Browsing by Author "Michael-Kordatou, Irene"
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- Antibiotic resistance in European wastewater treatment plants mirrors the pattern of clinical antibiotic resistance prevalencePublication . Pärnänen, Katariina M. M.; Narciso-da-Rocha, Carlos; Kneis, David; Berendonk, Thomas U.; Cacace, Damiano; Do, Thi Thuy; Elpers, Christian; Fatta-Kassinos, Despo; Henriques, Isabel; Jaeger, Thomas; Karkman, Antti; Martinez, Jose Luis; Michael, Stella G.; Michael-Kordatou, Irene; O’Sullivan, Kristin; Rodriguez-Mozaz, Sara; Schwartz, Thomas; Sheng, Hongjie; Sørum, Henning; Stedtfeld, Robert D.; Tiedje, James M.; Giustina, Saulo Varela Della; Walsh, Fiona; Vaz-Moreira, Ivone; Virta, Marko; Manaia, Célia M.Integrated antibiotic resistance (AR) surveillance is one of the objectives of the World Health Organization global action plan on antimicrobial resistance. Urban wastewater treatment plants (UWTPs) are among the most important receptors and sources of environmental AR. On the basis of the consistent observation of an increasing north-to-south clinical AR prevalence in Europe, this study compared the influent and final effluent of 12 UWTPs located in seven countries (Portugal, Spain, Ireland, Cyprus, Germany, Finland, and Norway). Using highly parallel quantitative polymerase chain reaction, we analyzed 229 resistance genes and 25 mobile genetic elements. This first trans-Europe surveillance showed that UWTP AR profiles mirror the AR gradient observed in clinics. Antibiotic use, environmental temperature, and UWTP size were important factors related with resistance persistence and spread in the environment. These results highlight the need to implement regular surveillance and control measures, which may need to be appropriate for the geographic regions.
- Investigating the impact of UV-C/H2O2 and sunlight/H2O2 on the removal of antibiotics, antibiotic resistance determinants and toxicity present in urban wastewaterPublication . G. Michael, Stella; Michael-Kordatou, Irene; Nahim-Granados, Samira; Polo-López, Maria Inmaculada; Rocha, Jaqueline; Martínez-Piernas, Ana B.; Fatta-Kassinos, Pilar; Manaia, Célia M.This work aimed at exploring the impact of UV-C/H2O2 and sunlight/H2O2 processes, applied at pilot scale, on removing: (i) ciprofloxacin and sulfamethoxazole, (ii) cultivable Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa grown in the presence and absence of sub-minimal inhibitory concentrations of ciprofloxacin and sulfamethoxazole and (iii) the genes 16S rRNA and selected antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) (i.e., sul1, blaCTX-M, qnrS, tetM, etc.) from urban wastewater. The major antibiotic transformation products (TPs) formed, were elucidated and the chronic toxicity of the whole effluent mixture against Vibrio fischeri was evaluated. The capability of the processes, in terms of the elimination of the antibiotics present in urban wastewater, varied among the two light sources used: both antibiotics were fully removed during UV-C/Η2Ο2, whereas only ciprofloxacin was removed during the sunlight/H2O2. The photo-transformation of the antibiotics led to the identification of 21 and 18 TPs of ciprofloxacin and sulfamethoxazole, respectively, while all of them retained their core moiety, responsible for the antibacterial activity. All the UV-C/H2O2-treated samples were found to be toxic, whereas the luminescence of V. fischeri was not inhibited when tested in the sunlight/H2O2-treated samples. During both processes, E. coli, P. aeruginosa and the colonies of these species still viable in the presence of antibiotics, were successfully inactivated to values below the detection limit. However, sunlight/H2O2 has not achieved complete disinfection, as regrowth of E. coli and P. aeruginosa colonies was observed after 48 h of storage of the treated effluent. Finally, none of the technologies tested was able to completely remove the target ARGs, confirming their inability to prevent the spread of resistance determinants to the environment.
- Making wavesPublication . Alygizakis, Nikiforos; Ng, Kelsey; Čirka, Ľuboš; Berendonk, Thomas; Cerqueira, Francisco; Cytryn, Eddie; Deviller, Geneviève; Fortunato, Gianuario; Iakovides, Iakovos C.; Kampouris, Ioannis; Michael-Kordatou, Irene; Lai, Foon Yin; Lundy, Lian; Manaia, Celia M.; Marano, Roberto B. M.; Paulus, Gabriela K.; Piña, Benjamin; Radu, Elena; Rizzo, Luigi; Ślipko, Katarzyna; Kreuzinger, Norbert; Thomaidis, Nikolaos S.; Ugolini, Valentina; Vaz-Moreira, Ivone; Slobodnik, Jaroslav; Fatta-Kassinos, DespoWith the global concerns on antibiotic resistance (AR) as a public health issue, it is pivotal to have data exchange platforms for studies on antibiotic resistant bacteria (ARB) and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in the environment. For this purpose, the NORMAN Association is hosting the NORMAN ARB&ARG database, which was developed within the European project ANSWER. The present article provides an overview on the database functionalities, the extraction and the contribution of data to the database. In this study, AR data from three studies from China and Nepal were extracted and imported into the NORMAN ARB&ARG in addition to the existing AR data from 11 studies (mainly European studies) on the database. This feasibility study demonstrates how the scientific community can share their data on AR to generate an international evidence base to inform AR mitigation strategies. The open and FAIR data are of high potential relevance for regulatory applications, including the development of emission limit values / environmental quality standards in relation to AR. The growth in sharing of data and analytical methods will foster collaboration on risk management of AR worldwide, and facilitate the harmonization in the effort for identification and surveillance of critical hotspots of AR. The NORMAN ARB&ARG database is publicly available at: https://www.norman-network.com/nds/bacteria/.