Academic Journal
Perfluorooctane sulfonate drives the synergistic dissemination of antimicrobial resistance and pathogenicity during sludge anaerobic digestion.
| Τίτλος: | Perfluorooctane sulfonate drives the synergistic dissemination of antimicrobial resistance and pathogenicity during sludge anaerobic digestion. |
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| Συγγραφείς: | Xiang Y; School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei, 230009, PR China., Cui K; School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei, 230009, PR China. Electronic address: cuikangping@hfut.edu.cn., Zhou H; School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei, 230009, PR China., Tian Y; School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei, 230009, PR China., Liu X; School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei, 230009, PR China., Yao H; School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei, 230009, PR China., Li X; School of Hydraulic and Ocean Engineering, Changsha University of Science & Technology, Changsha, 410114, PR China. Electronic address: lixiaoyang@csust.edu.cn. |
| Πηγή: | Water research [Water Res] 2026 Oct 15; Vol. 305, pp. 126541. Date of Electronic Publication: 2026 Jul 20. |
| Τύπος έκδοσης: | Journal Article |
| Γλώσσα: | English |
| Στοιχεία περιοδικού: | Publisher: Pergamon Press Country of Publication: England NLM ID: 0105072 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1879-2448 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 00431354 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Water Res Subsets: MEDLINE |
| Imprint Name(s): | Original Publication: Oxford, Pergamon Press. |
| Ιατρικοί όροι (MeSH): | Sewage*/microbiology , Alkanesulfonic Acids* , Fluorocarbons* , Drug Resistance, Microbial*, Anaerobiosis ; Drug Resistance, Bacterial |
| Περίληψη: | Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, one of the most prevalent and persistent emerging contaminants in sludge, may drive the dissemination of antimicrobial resistance and pathogenicity during sludge treatment. However, the mechanisms underlying perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS)-mediated propagation of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and virulence factors (VFs) remain poorly understood. This study investigated the effects of PFOS (1 and 10 μg/g-dw) on ARGs dynamics and virulence risks. Quantitative PCR and metagenomic analysis revealed that PFOS stress led to the widespread enrichment of ARGs, the total abundance of mobile genetic elements (MGEs) and VFs also increased by 33.22-37.62% and 6.71-8.41%, respectively. Metagenomic binning results demonstrated that most metagenome-assembled genomes carrying ARGs or VFs simultaneously harbored MGEs. Mechanistically, excessive reactive oxygen species production and enhanced substrate-level phosphorylation for ATP generation may contribute to the increased horizontal transfer potential of ARGs under PFOS stress, which further facilitated the convergence of antimicrobial resistance and virulence traits within pathogens. Furthermore, PFOS may have hindered the negative regulation of the RhlI/RhlR quorum sensing system on the Type III secretion system, stimulating the secretion of VFs. This study elucidates the mechanisms by which PFOS promotes the dissemination of ARGs and pathogenicity during anaerobic digestion, highlighting the potentially overlooked environmental health risks of PFOS during sludge disposal. (Copyright © 2026 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.) |
| Competing Interests: | Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. |
| Contributed Indexing: | Keywords: Anaerobic digestion; Antimicrobial resistance; Pathogens; Per- and polyfluoroalkyl; Virulence factors |
| Substance Nomenclature: | 0 (Alkanesulfonic Acids) 0 (Fluorocarbons) 0 (Sewage) 9H2MAI21CL (perfluorooctane sulfonic acid) |
| Entry Date(s): | Date Created: 20260721 Date Completed: 20260909 Latest Revision: 20260909 |
| Update Code: | 20260909 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.watres.2026.126541 |
| PMID: | 42480186 |
| Βάση Δεδομένων: | MEDLINE |
| ISSN: | 1879-2448 |
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| DOI: | 10.1016/j.watres.2026.126541 |