High-risk ARGs in environmental E. coli from the Taihu Lake watershed
Abstract
The global antimicrobial-resistance crisis is exacerbated by environmental bacterial reservoirs. This work investigated antibiotic-resistance genes (ARGs) carried by E. coli from 118 surface-water samples across the Taihu Lake watershed. We isolated E. coli using mTEC agar and uidA PCR and screened isolates for 92 ARGs covering 15 resistance classes. Samples from Huzhou showed higher ARG detection rates than samples from other regions, with aminoglycoside, sulfonamide, and glycopeptide resistance genes predominant. Urban sampling sites represented ARG hotspots. Co-occurrence analysis revealed associations between quinolone and aminoglycoside resistance genes, suggestive of horizontal gene transfer. Risk assessment categorized 25.3% of samples as high risk. These observations illustrate human-driven ARG pollution in local aquatic environments and support targeted surveillance and One Health-oriented mitigation strategies.
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BibTeX
@article{wang2026highrisk,
title = {{High-risk ARGs in environmental E. coli from the Taihu Lake watershed}},
author = {Afeng Wang and Xinyuan Xu and Weiwei Jiang and Bangyi Li and Wenjie Zhu and Qiuping Xiao and Liu Xu and Junhong Sun and Keyu Chen and Yanfeng Yi and Yingying Guo and Xinhua Qiang and Jie He and Hongchang Zhou and Yibin Lin and Xiang Wang},
journal = {iScience},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1016/j.isci.2026.117986},
url = {https://www.cell.com/iscience/fulltext/S2589-0042(26)03369-9},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - High-risk ARGs in environmental E. coli from the Taihu Lake watershed
AU - Afeng Wang
AU - Xinyuan Xu
AU - Weiwei Jiang
AU - Bangyi Li
AU - Wenjie Zhu
AU - Qiuping Xiao
AU - Liu Xu
AU - Junhong Sun
AU - Keyu Chen
AU - Yanfeng Yi
AU - Yingying Guo
AU - Xinhua Qiang
AU - Jie He
AU - Hongchang Zhou
AU - Yibin Lin
AU - Xiang Wang
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/23
JO - iScience
DO - 10.1016/j.isci.2026.117986
UR - https://www.cell.com/iscience/fulltext/S2589-0042(26)03369-9
AB - The global antimicrobial-resistance crisis is exacerbated by environmental bacterial reservoirs. This work investigated antibiotic-resistance genes (ARGs) carried by E. coli from 118 surface-water samples across the Taihu Lake watershed. We isolated E. coli using mTEC agar and uidA PCR and screened isolates for 92 ARGs covering 15 resistance classes. Samples from Huzhou showed higher ARG detection rates than samples from other regions, with aminoglycoside, sulfonamide, and glycopeptide resistance genes predominant. Urban sampling sites represented ARG hotspots. Co-occurrence analysis revealed associations between quinolone and aminoglycoside resistance genes, suggestive of horizontal gene transfer. Risk assessment categorized 25.3% of samples as high risk. These observations illustrate human-driven ARG pollution in local aquatic environments and support targeted surveillance and One Health-oriented mitigation strategies.
SN - 2589-0042
ER -