Endo, N. | Search bioRxiv

bioRxiv2019

24-hour multi-omics analysis of residential sewage reflects human activity and informs public health

High-throughput molecular analysis of sewage is a promising tool for precision public health. Here, we combine sewer network and demographic data to identify a residential catchment for sampling, and explore the potential of applying untargeted genomics and metabolomics to sewage to collect actionable public health data. We find that wastewater sampled upstream in a residential catchment is representative of the human microbiome and metabolome, and we are able to identify glucuronidated compounds indicative of direct human excretion, which are typically degraded too quickly to be detected at treatment plants. We show that diurnal variations during 24-hour sampling can be leveraged to discriminate between biomarkers in sewage that are associated with human activity from those related to the environmental background. Finally, we putatively annotate a suite of human-associated metabolites, including pharmaceuticals, food metabolites, and biomarkers of human health and activity, suggesting that mining untargeted data derived from residential sewage can expand currently-used biomarkers with direct public health or policy relevance.

genomics↗

bioRxiv2019

Multi-site sampling and risk prioritization reveals the public health relevance of antibiotic resistance genes found in wastewater environments

The spread of bacterial antibiotic resistance across human and environmental habitats is a global public health challenge. Wastewater has been implicated as a major source of antibiotic resistance in the environment, as it carries resistant bacteria and resistance genes from humans into natural ecosystems. However, different wastewater environments and antibiotic resistance genes in wastewater do not all present the same level of risk to human health. In this study, we investigate the public health relevance of antibiotic resistance found in wastewater by combining metagenomic sequencing with risk prioritization of resistance genes, analyzing samples across urban sewage system environments in multiple countries. We find that many of the resistance genes commonly found in wastewater are not readily present in humans. Ranking antibiotic resistance genes based on their potential pathogenicity and mobility reveals that most of the resistance genes in wastewater are not clinically relevant. Additionally, we show that residential wastewater resistomes pose greater risk to human health than those in wastewater treatment plant samples, and that residential wastewater can be as risky as hospital effluent. Across countries, differences in antibiotic resistance in residential wastewater can, in some cases, reflect differences in antibiotic drug consumption. Finally, we find that the flow of antibiotic resistance genes is influenced by geographical distance and environmental selection. Taken together, we demonstrate how different analytical approaches can provide greater insights into the public health relevance of antibiotic resistance in wastewater.

microbiology↗