Microbial Communities and Antimicrobial Resistance Genes in Environmental Water Systems

Dear Colleagues,

The emergence of antibiotic resistance has significant implications for the future of global public health. We must take action to address this issue, including improving the surveillance and stewardship of antibiotics, promoting the development of new drugs and alternative therapies, and investing in research to better understand the mechanisms of resistance. In this context, environmental settings play a crucial role in the emergence and spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Water is a crucial link between various environmental compartments and represents the final destination of the vast majority of urban sewage worldwide, leading to the dissemination of AMR determinants (antibiotic-resistant bacteria, antibiotic-resistance genes, antibiotics, and other pharmaceutical compounds) that alter the microbiome ecology and promotes the evolution and dissemination of AMR. Nowadays, there is limited information about AMR in source waters, drinking water treatment plants, and distribution systems, and its impact on human health.

This Special Issue aims to gather information about microbial communities and antimicrobial resistance genes in environmental water systems. The main themes of this Special Issue include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Identification and monitoring of emerging drug-resistant bacteria in aquatic systems impacted by anthropogenic activities.
• Resistome analysis of microbial communities affected by human activities in aquatic environments using metagenomic approaches.
• Investigation of the impact of untreated and treated sewage or sludge used as fertilizer on the aquatic resistome.
• Examination of the role of aquaculture in the spread of AMR and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs).
• Analyses of the impact of climate change on the propagation of AMR and ARGs in water systems.
• Identification of the pathways for the dissemination of ARGs in aquatic ecosystems.

Dr. William Ricardo Calero-Cáceres
Dr. Jorge Olivares-Pacheco
Dr. João Pedro Rueda Furlan
Guest Editors

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• antibiotic resistance
• environment
• water systems
• bacterial pathogens
• emerging pollutants
• anthropogenic impact