Article, 2024

Spatiotemporal Changes of Antibiotic Resistance, Potential Pathogens, and Health Risk in Kindergarten Dust

Environmental Science and Technology, ISSN 0013-936X, 1520-5851, Volume 58, 8, Pages 3919-3930, 10.1021/acs.est.3c07935

Contributors

Li, Li-Juan [1] [2] Xu, Fei [1] [2] Xu, Jian-Xin 0000-0003-2021-1211 [3] Yan, Yonghong 0000-0002-5978-3826 [4] Su, Jianqiang Q [1] [2] Zhu, Yong-Guan 0000-0003-3861-8482 [1] [2] [5] Li, Hongzhe 0000-0001-5849-4400 (Corresponding author) [1] [2]

Affiliations

  1. [1] Institute of Urban Environment
    2. [NORA names: China; Asia, East];
  2. [2] University of Chinese Academy of Sciences
    3. [NORA names: China; Asia, East];
  3. [3] Technical University of Denmark
    4. [NORA names: DTU Technical University of Denmark; University; Denmark; Europe, EU; Nordic; OECD];
  4. [4] Huaqiao University
    5. [NORA names: China; Asia, East];
  5. [5] Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences
    6. [NORA names: China; Asia, East]

Abstract

The microorganisms present in kindergartens are extremely important for children's health during their three-year preschool education. To assess the risk of outdoor dust in kindergartens, the antibiotic resistome and potential pathogens were investigated in dust samples collected from 59 kindergartens in Xiamen, southeast China in both the winter and summer. Both high-throughput quantitative PCR and metagenome analysis revealed a higher richness and abundance of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in winter (P < 0.05). Besides, the bloom of ARGs and potential pathogens was evident in the urban kindergartens. The co-occurrence patterns among ARGs, mobile genetic elements (MGEs), and potential pathogens suggested some bacterial pathogens were potential hosts of ARGs and MGEs. We found a large number of high-risk ARGs in the dust; the richness and abundance of high-risk ARGs were higher in winter and urban kindergartens compared to in summer and peri-urban kindergartens, respectively. The results of the co-occurrence patterns and high-risk ARGs jointly reveal that urbanization will significantly increase the threat of urban dust to human beings and their risks will be higher in winter. This study unveils the close association between ARGs/mobile ARGs and potential pathogens and emphasizes that we should pay more attention to the health risks induced by their combination.

Keywords

China, PCR, Xiamen, abundance, abundance of antibiotic resistance genes, analysis, antibiotic resistance, antibiotic resistance genes, antibiotic resistome, association, attention, bacterial pathogens, beings, bloom, child health, children, co-occurrence, co-occurrence patterns, combination, dust, dust samples, education, elements, genes, genetic elements, health, health risks, high-throughput quantitative PCR, host, human beings, kindergarten, kindergarten dust, metagenomic analysis, microorganisms, mobile genetic elements, outdoor dust, pathogens, patterns, potential pathogens, preschool, preschool education, quantitative PCR, resistance, resistance genes, resistome, results, richness, risk, samples, southeast China, spatiotemporal changes, study, summer, threat, urban dust, urban kindergartens, urbanization, winter

Funders

  • National Natural Science Foundation of China
  • Ningbo Science and Technology Bureau

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