Genes of past, present and future: does legacy pollution contribute to antibiotic resistance in industrialised estuaries?

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Development of antibiotic resistant (AR) bacteria diminishes the efficacy of antibiotics to the point that difficult-to-treat pathogens are encountered in water, beaches and seafood. Although the inappropriate use of antibiotics in medicine and agriculture contributes to the problem, there is evidence that industrial pollution (e.g., organics and heavy-metal pollutants) have a strong role in AR development.Can residual pollution in the environment from past industrial pollution continue to threaten present and future public/environmental health? Many chemicals do degrade in nature; however, certain signatures, e.g., persistent polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and heavy metals can remain in sediments providing continual stress to resident microorganisms.Bacteria have the ability to acquire and disseminate mechanisms to deal with chemical stress; some of these mechanisms are either analogous or closely-linked (genetically) to genes to that provide antibiotic resistance. Therefore, the presence of metals (for example) can cause bacteria to harbour and spread these stress-response genes.In this project, we will obtain sediment cores in former/current industrial areas along the Clyde estuary near Glasgow. We will determine chemical signatures in sediment layers and use radiometric (lead and caesium) assessment to determine "pollution age". Simultaneously, we will characterise the resident bacterial populations (via 16S-rRNA analysis) and types of resistance genes (metal and antibiotic) that they harbour to determine whether risk exist in zones of pollution.Having the ability to compare different pollution conditions among stratified layers in the sediment and among different locations along the estuary; it will allow us to determine contributing factors towards resistance traits in microbial communities. This research will better inform us the risks associated with industrial pollution, and it can influence pollution-control and remediation strategies.