Exposure to vancomycin causes a shift in the microbial community structure without affecting nitrate reduction rates in river sediments

Anniet M. Laverman (1) , Thibaut Cazier (2) , Chen Yan (2) , Céline Roose-Amsaleg (2) , Fabienne Petit (3) , Josette Garnier (2) , Thierry Berthe (3)

1 ECOBIO - Ecosystèmes, biodiversité, évolution [Rennes]
2 METIS - Milieux Environnementaux, Transferts et Interactions dans les hydrosystèmes et les Sols
3 M2C - Morphodynamique Continentale et Côtière

Antibiotics and antibiotic resistance genes have shown to be omnipresent in the environment. In this study, we investigated the effect of vancomycin (VA) on denitrifying bacteria in river sediments of a Waste Water Treatment Plant, receiving both domestic and hospital waste. We exposed these sediments continuously in flow-through reactors to different VA concentrations under denitrifying conditions (nitrate addition and anoxia) in order to determine potential nitrate reduction rates and changes in sedimentary microbial community structures. The presence of VA had no effect on sedimentary nitrate reduction rates at environmental concentrations, whereas a change in bacterial (16S rDNA) and denitrifying (nosZ) community structures was observed (determined by polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis). The bacterial and denitrifying community structure within the sediment changed upon VA exposure indicating a selection of a non-susceptible VA population.

Keywords: Nitrate reduction; Vancomycin; Community structure; nosZ; Bacterial antibiotic resistance; Flow-through reactors

Domains: Life Sciences [q-bio]; Environmental Sciences; Biodiversity and Ecology

Anniet M. Laverman, Thibaut Cazier, Chen Yan, Céline Roose-Amsaleg, Fabienne Petit, et al.. Exposure to vancomycin causes a shift in the microbial community structure without affecting nitrate reduction rates in river sediments. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 2015, 22 (18), pp.13702-13709. ⟨10.1007/s11356-015-4159-6⟩. ⟨hal-01146843⟩