Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41636304›Full record

ArticleEnvironmental science & technology2026

Metagenomic Assessment of Full-Scale Wastewater Treatment Plants Identifies Sentinel Antibiotic Resistance Gene Families for Monitoring Reclaimed Wastewater and Treated Sludge.

Liam P Brown, Anna Marizzi, Carles M Borrego, Giulia Gionchetta, Zhao Zhengzheng, Rodrigo B Carneiro, Pablo Gago-Ferrero, Victor Matamoros, Jessica Subirats

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Environmental science & technology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
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1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Liam P BrownOttawa Laboratory (Carling), Canadian Food Inspection Agency, 960 Carling Avenue, bldg.22, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0C6, Canada.ORCID 0000-0002-2406-8910
Anna MarizziDepartment of Environmental Chemistry, Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research (IDAEA), Severo Ochoa Excellence Center, Spanish Council of Scientific Research (CSIC), Jordi Girona 18-26, Barcelona E-08034, Spain.
Carles M BorregoCatalan Institute for Water Research (ICRA-CERCA), Emili Grahit 101, Girona E-17003, Spain.
Giulia GionchettaDepartment of Environmental Chemistry, Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research (IDAEA), Severo Ochoa Excellence Center, Spanish Council of Scientific Research (CSIC), Jordi Girona 18-26, Barcelona E-08034, Spain.
Zhao ZhengzhengNational Key Laboratory of Agricultural microbiology, College of Life Science and Technology, National Engineering Research Center of Microbial Pesticides, Huazhong Agricultural University Wuhan 430070, PR China.ORCID 0009-0002-9476-7044
Rodrigo B CarneiroLaboratory of Chromatography (CROMA), São Carlos Institute of Chemistry, University of São Paulo (USP), 400, Trabalhador São-Carlense Ave., São Paulo, São Carlos 13566-590, Brazil.ORCID 0000-0002-9188-4133
Pablo Gago-FerreroDepartment of Environmental Chemistry, Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research (IDAEA), Severo Ochoa Excellence Center, Spanish Council of Scientific Research (CSIC), Jordi Girona 18-26, Barcelona E-08034, Spain.ORCID 0000-0002-5987-0399
Victor MatamorosDepartment of Environmental Chemistry, Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research (IDAEA), Severo Ochoa Excellence Center, Spanish Council of Scientific Research (CSIC), Jordi Girona 18-26, Barcelona E-08034, Spain.
Jessica SubiratsDepartment of Environmental Chemistry, Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research (IDAEA), Severo Ochoa Excellence Center, Spanish Council of Scientific Research (CSIC), Jordi Girona 18-26, Barcelona E-08034, Spain.ORCID 0000-0002-7919-683X

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The new European (EU) regulation on water reuse explicitly incorporates antimicrobial resistance (AMR) into routine monitoring and risk management, creating an urgent need to define target antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) for reclaimed irrigation water and agricultural sludge. However, existing global data largely focus on secondary effluents, providing little actionable evidence for reuse-oriented systems. Here, we present the first integrated framework combining targeted antibiotic residue analysis with shotgun metagenomics of the resistome, mobilome, and microbiome across full-scale reuse-oriented wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in Southern Europe to identify sentinel antibiotic resistance families for monitoring. Reclaimed effluents exhibited lower AMR exposure levels than those typically reported for secondary effluents (<0.5 ARGs/cell), while mobile genetic element (MGE) abundances were comparable to secondary effluents (1-2 MGEs/cell). Effluent communities differed by WWTP configuration: membrane bioreactor combined with ultrafiltration favored nutrient-removal/oxidative-stress taxa and reduced transferable MGEs, whereas plants relying on physical separation (sand filtration or reverse osmosis) retained fecal-associated taxa and MGEs. Specific clinically relevant ARGs persisted after treatments, including

Indexed as

Drug Resistance, MicrobialWastewaterAnti-Bacterial AgentsMetagenomicsSewageWaste Disposal, FluidAnti-Bacterial AgentsSewageWastewaterantibiotic resistancemetagenomicsmonitoringreclaimed watersludgewastewater treatment

Identifiers

PMID41636304
PMCPMC12918712

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.