Fate and attenuation of antibiotic resistance genes in a constructed seawater wetland used for aquaculture tailwater treatment

Abstract

Constructed seawater wetlands are widely used for industrial mariculture tailwater treatment in coastal areas. The fate and attenuation of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in a constructed seawater wetland were investigated in this study. The absolute abundance of ARGs in water samples was much lower than in sediment and marine organism samples, indicating that attachment to sediment and organisms were important factors in ARG proliferation. The main factors driving ARG proliferation in water, sediment, and marine organisms were water quality, human activities, and internal microorganisms, respectively. The mariculture farm discharged 1.35 × 10¹⁴ copies/day of ARGs to the constructed seawater wetland and 6.88 × 10¹³ copies/day of ARGs to the adjacent coastal area ecosystem. The 49% reduction of ARGs in the constructed seawater wetland represented significant removal efficiency. Most of the ARGs (> 70%) were removed by the marine organisms including oyster, sea cucumber and Ulva. These findings provided initial information on the convenient, practical, and feasible removal technique for ARGs in industrial mariculture systems using constructed seawater wetlands and marine organisms.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

Constructed seawater wetland / Antibiotic resistance genes / Attenuation / Marine organism / Industrial mariculture

Highlight

	● Fate and attenuation of ARGs in the constructed seawater wetland were investigated.
	● Absolute abundance of ARGs in water samples was lower than marine organisms.
	● Fouty nine percent of ARGs were removed by the constructed seawater wetland.
	● Most of the ARGs (> 70%) were removed by the seaweed and marine animals.
	● Oyster exhibited excellent capacity for removing ARGs.

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