Hot Spots of Resistance: Transit Centers as Breeding Grounds for Airborne Arg-Carrying Bacteriophages

Abstract

The presence of pathogenic bacteria and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in urban air poses a significant threat to public health. While prevailing research predominantly focuses on the airborne transmission of ARGs by bacteria, the potential influence of other vectors, such as bacteriophages, is often overlooked. This study aims to investigate the characteristics of phages and ARGs in aerosols originating from hospitals, public transit centers, wastewater treatment plants, and landfill sites. Public transit centers have been pinpointed as hotspots for ARG-carrying phages, characterized by their heightened prevalence and the escalated risk associated with ARGs conveyed by these phages. The assembled phage communities bearing ARGs in public transit centers are chiefly governed by homogeneous selection processes, likely influenced by human movement. Furthermore, a high abundance ratio of virulent phages to their hosts was observed in public transit sites, accompanied by a robust correlation between the auxiliary metabolic genes of virulent phages and the metabolic genes of their hosts. This suggests that virulent phages may enhance their survival by altering host metabolism, thereby aiding the dispersion of ARGs and bacterial resistance. These revelations furnish fresh insights into phage-mediated ARG transmission, offering scientific substantiation for strategies aimed at preventing and controlling resistance within aerosols.

Keywords: aerosol, antibiotic resistance genes, auxiliary metabolic genes, public transit center, virulent phage