Distribution characteristics and controlling factors of typical antibiotics and antibiotic resistance genes in river networks in western area of Wangyu River, China

Antibiotics and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) pose health risks in aquatic environments because of their persistence and mobility. River networks can provide a perfect opportunity for exploring the occurrence and enrichment of ARGs and antibiotics in freshwater environments. On this basis, the abundances of four types of antibiotics (sulfonamides, quinolones, tetracyclines, and macrolides) and 13 ARGs (sulІ, sulІІ, tetA, tetB, tetO, tetW, qnrA, qnrS, qnrD, ermB, ermF, ermC, and ereA) were measured in the river networks of the west bank of the Wangyu River in China. The spatial distribution and temporal variation of these antibiotics and ARGs were characterized, and their controlling factors were analyzed. All four types of antibiotics were detected with high frequencies between 41% and 100%. Quinolone antibiotics exhibited the highest average concentration (286.53 ng/L). The concentrations of quinolones, tetracyclines, and macrolides were significantly higher in the winter than in the summer, whereas the concentration of sulfonamides was higher in wet periods than in dry periods. Of the 13 ARGs, sulI was the most abundant (1.28 × 10⁵ copies per milliliter), followed by sulII and tetO (5.41 × 10⁴ and 4.45 × 10⁴ copies per milliliter, respectively). The canonical correspondence analysis showed that environmental factors, including dissolved oxygen, water temperature, total nitrogen, pH, and total phosphorus, had significant effects on the abundance of ARGs. sulІ, sulІІ, tetA, and tetB were significantly correlated with 16S ribosomal RNA sequences, indicating that the bacterioplankton community might affect the distribution of ARGs. The correlation heat map analysis showed that the spread of ARGs was influenced by specific bacterial groups, such as Acidobacteria and Cyanobacteria, indicating that these bacterioplankton may be the hosts of environmental ARGs.