EAPSI: Ballast Water: A possible Mechanism for Global Transport of Antibiotic Resistance

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This research will examine the prevalence of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and pathogens in post-treatment ballast water used in international shipping. Improperly managed ballast water discharge can have significant impacts on human health, highlighted by a Vibrio cholerae outbreak in Peru in 1991 that killed over 10,000 people. Despite well-documented ballast-associated introductions of invasive species of various crabs and jellyfish, research exploring the role of ballast in the global transport of microorganisms is limited. Singapore is an ideal study site for ballast water research because it is home to the second-busiest port by cargo tonnage in the world. Ballast samples will be collected from vessels in the Port of Singapore and will be analyzed for physical, chemical, and microbiological parameters. Research will be conducted at the National University of Singapore (NUS) in collaboration with Dr. Karina Yew-Hoong Gin, an expert in coastal water quality.The ballast water microbiome from vessels using several different ballast water treatment methods will be examined using culture-based and molecular methods. Culture-based methods will be used to quantify the typical indicator microbes of ballast water: Escherichia coli, Enterococcus, and Vibrio cholerae O1 and O139. Molecular analyses, including metagenomics via next-generation sequencing and targeted PCR/qPCR analysis for 13 common ARGs, will also be performed at Duke University and NUS, respectively. Samples will be gathered from vessels with different ballast water treatment methods and the results of culture-based and molecular methods will be compared across treatment method groups via ANOVA and post-hoc tests. In addition, ballast samples from this research in Singapore will be grouped and compared to ballast samples previously collected at several domestic ports in the United States as part of the researcher?s ongoing dissertation research.This award under the East Asia and Pacific Summer Institutes program supports summer research by a U.S. graduate student and is jointly funded by NSF and the National Research Foundation of Singapore.