Phage treatment and wetland technology as intervention strategy to prevent dissemination of antibiotic resistance in surface waters

城市废水中含有抗生素残留和人类来源的微生物，包括众所周知的人类致病细菌(病原体)，这些细菌对抗生素具有抗药性。它们可能经受住废水处理厂的传统处理或人工湿地的被动处理，构成严重的健康风险，特别是在低收入和中等收入国家。在这项拟议的研究中，Phageland财团旨在开发一种新的低成本、安全、环保和可扩展的干预策略，以防止抗生素耐药性(AR)从废水传播到地表水。这将通过结合使用特定的细菌感染病毒(噬菌体也称为噬菌体)来创造基于噬菌体的处理，并结合人工湿地作为被动式水处理系统来实现。研究伙伴将评估这项技术在去除废水中关键抗药性病原体方面的有效性、生态安全性(包括保护自然细菌多样性)以及对包括动物在内的更广泛环境的潜在副作用。PhageLand技术还将在扩大的试点基础设施中进行测试，作为该战略的概念验证及其在低成本集成电路中部署的可行性，因为经济限制限制了构建更昂贵和耗电的处理技术。该项目将结合现场和实验室实验，包括尖端技术和环境工程，以解决目前的知识差距，并评估和开发PhageLand技术。最初的重点将是后苏联时代的欧洲LMIC，特别是摩尔多瓦作为一个示范国家，这些国家历来在整个LMIC中被忽视。然而，拟议的技术将普遍适用，并很容易转移到其他国家，无论其经济地位如何。

Urban wastewater contains antibiotic residues and human-derived microorganisms, including well-known human disease causing bacteria (pathogens) which are resistant to antibiotics. These may withstand either traditional treatment in waster water treatment plants or passive treatment in constructed wetlands presenting a serious health risk particularly in Low to Middle Income Countries (LMIC). In this proposed research, the Phageland consortium aims to develop a new low-cost, safe, eco-friendly and scalable intervention strategy to prevent the transmission of antibiotic resistance (AR) from wastewater into surface waters. This will be achieved by combining the use of specific bacteria-infecting viruses (bacteriophages also known as phages) to created a phage-based treatment in combination with constructed wetlands acting as passive water treatment systems. The research partners will evaluate this technology with respect to its efficacy in removing key antibiotic resistant pathogens from wastewater, ecological safety, including preservation of natural bacterial diversity, and potential side effects for the wider environment including animals.The PhageLand technology will also be tested in a scaled-up pilot infrastructure as a proof-of-concept for the strategy and its viability for deployment in LMICs where economic constraints limit the construction of more costly and power hungry treatment technologies. The project will use a combination of field and laboratory experiments, including cutting edge techniques and environmental engineering, to address current gaps in knowledge and both assess and develop the PhageLand technology.The initial focus will be on post-Soviet European LMICs, and specifically Moldova as a model country, which have historically been overlooked amongst LMICs as a whole. However, the proposed technology will be universally applicable and easily transferred to other countries regardless of economic status.