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<front>
<journal-meta>
<journal-id journal-id-type="publisher-id">Front. Environ. Sci.</journal-id>
<journal-title>Frontiers in Environmental Science</journal-title>
<abbrev-journal-title abbrev-type="pubmed">Front. Environ. Sci.</abbrev-journal-title>
<issn pub-type="epub">2296-665X</issn>
<publisher>
<publisher-name>Frontiers Media S.A.</publisher-name>
</publisher>
</journal-meta>
<article-meta>
<article-id pub-id-type="publisher-id">941847</article-id>
<article-id pub-id-type="doi">10.3389/fenvs.2022.941847</article-id>
<article-categories>
<subj-group subj-group-type="heading">
<subject>Environmental Science</subject>
<subj-group>
<subject>Editorial</subject>
</subj-group>
</subj-group>
</article-categories>
<title-group>
<article-title>Editorial: Environmental Reservoirs of Antibiotic Resistance Determinants: A Ticking Time Bomb for the Future Emergence of Super-Bugs of Environmental and Public Health Importance</article-title>
<alt-title alt-title-type="left-running-head">Abia Akebe et al.</alt-title>
<alt-title alt-title-type="right-running-head">Editorial: Environmental Dimension of Antimicrobial Resistance</alt-title>
</title-group>
<contrib-group>
<contrib contrib-type="author" corresp="yes">
<name>
<surname>Abia Akebe</surname>
<given-names>Luther King</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2">
<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff3">
<sup>3</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="corresp" rid="c001">&#x2a;</xref>
<uri xlink:href="https://loop.frontiersin.org/people/665562/overview"/>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author">
<name>
<surname>Sibanda</surname>
<given-names>Timothy</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff4">
<sup>4</sup>
</xref>
<uri xlink:href="https://loop.frontiersin.org/people/1259445/overview"/>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author">
<name>
<surname>Selvarajan</surname>
<given-names>Ramganesh</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff5">
<sup>5</sup>
</xref>
<uri xlink:href="https://loop.frontiersin.org/people/1054716/overview"/>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author">
<name>
<surname>El-Liethy</surname>
<given-names>Mohamed Azab</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff6">
<sup>6</sup>
</xref>
<uri xlink:href="https://loop.frontiersin.org/people/465561/overview"/>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" corresp="yes">
<name>
<surname>Kamika</surname>
<given-names>Ilunga</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff7">
<sup>7</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="corresp" rid="c001">&#x2a;</xref>
<uri xlink:href="https://loop.frontiersin.org/people/88916/overview"/>
</contrib>
</contrib-group>
<aff id="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
<institution>College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences</institution>, <institution>University of South Africa</institution>, <addr-line>Florida</addr-line>, <country>South Africa</country>
</aff>
<aff id="aff2">
<sup>2</sup>
<institution>Antimicrobial Research Unit</institution>, <institution>College of Health Sciences</institution>, <institution>University of Kwazulu-Natal</institution>, <addr-line>Durban</addr-line>, <country>South Africa</country>
</aff>
<aff id="aff3">
<sup>3</sup>
<institution>Environmetal Research Foundation</institution>, <addr-line>Westville</addr-line>, <country>South Africa</country>
</aff>
<aff id="aff4">
<sup>4</sup>
<institution>Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology and Biotechnology</institution>, <institution>University of Namibia</institution>, <addr-line>Windhoek</addr-line>, <country>Namibia</country>
</aff>
<aff id="aff5">
<sup>5</sup>
<institution>Laboratory of Extraterrestrial Ocean Systems (LEOS)</institution>, <institution>Institute of Deep-Sea Science and Engineering</institution>, <institution>Chinese Academy of Sciences</institution>, <addr-line>Sanya</addr-line>, <country>China</country>
</aff>
<aff id="aff6">
<sup>6</sup>
<institution>Environmental Microbiology Laboratory</institution>, <institution>National Research Centre</institution>, <institution>Water Pollution Research Department</institution>, <addr-line>Cairo</addr-line>, <country>Egypt</country>
</aff>
<aff id="aff7">
<sup>7</sup>
<institution>Institute for Nanotechnology and Water Sustainability</institution>, <institution>College of Science, Engineering and Technology</institution>, <institution>University of South Africa</institution>, <addr-line>Johannesburg</addr-line>, <country>South Africa</country>
</aff>
<author-notes>
<fn fn-type="edited-by">
<p>
<bold>Edited and reviewed by:</bold> <ext-link ext-link-type="uri" xlink:href="https://loop.frontiersin.org/people/595355/overview">Oladele Ogunseitan</ext-link>, University of California, United States</p>
</fn>
<corresp id="c001">&#x2a;Correspondence: Luther King Abia Akebe, <email>lutherkinga@yahoo.fr</email>; Ilunga Kamika, <email>alainkamika@gmail.com</email>
</corresp>
<fn fn-type="other">
<p>This article was submitted to Toxicology, Pollution and the Environment, a section of the journal Frontiers in Environmental Science</p>
</fn>
</author-notes>
<pub-date pub-type="epub">
<day>27</day>
<month>05</month>
<year>2022</year>
</pub-date>
<pub-date pub-type="collection">
<year>2022</year>
</pub-date>
<volume>10</volume>
<elocation-id>941847</elocation-id>
<history>
<date date-type="received">
<day>11</day>
<month>05</month>
<year>2022</year>
</date>
<date date-type="accepted">
<day>13</day>
<month>05</month>
<year>2022</year>
</date>
</history>
<permissions>
<copyright-statement>Copyright &#xa9; 2022 Abia Akebe, Sibanda, Selvarajan, El-Liethy and Kamika.</copyright-statement>
<copyright-year>2022</copyright-year>
<copyright-holder>Abia Akebe, Sibanda, Selvarajan, El-Liethy and Kamika</copyright-holder>
<license xlink:href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">
<p>This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.</p>
</license>
</permissions>
<related-article id="RA1" journal-id="Front. Chem." related-article-type="commentary-article" xlink:href="https://www.frontiersin.org/researchtopic/21091" ext-link-type="uri">Editorial on the Research Topic <article-title>Environmental Reservoirs of Antibiotic Resistance Determinants: A Ticking Time Bomb for the Future Emergence of Super-Bugs of Environmental and Public Health Importance</article-title>
</related-article>
<kwd-group>
<kwd>antibiotic resistance</kwd>
<kwd>environmental resistome</kwd>
<kwd>antibiotic-resistant bacteria</kwd>
<kwd>microbiotic particles</kwd>
<kwd>aquatic environments</kwd>
</kwd-group>
</article-meta>
</front>
<body>
<p>Access to safe and sufficient water for human consumption is a fundamental human right (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B2">United Nations, 2011</xref>), spurring increased scientific research, technological development, monitoring, environmental protection, consumer information, and public awareness. However, environmental sources continue to be impacted by various pollutants, including pharmaceuticals and heavy metals (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B3">Zhao et al., 2017</xref>), resulting in potentially deleterious effects on humans, animals, and the environment. Though a global problem, developing countries are most threatened due to rapid urbanisation and industrialisation, coupled with poor sanitation infrastructure. A major concern of antibiotics in the environment is the evolution and spread of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) among environmental microbes, with the likely emergence of antibiotic-resistant super-bugs of public and animal health concerns (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B1">Mbanga et al., 2021</xref>). To provide an interdisciplinary update, this research topic focused on possible antibiotic interactions with diverse microbial communities in the environment, leading to the emergence of environmental resistome and super-bugs and their potential public health consequences. This special issue has seven articles written by 32 authors from Europe, Asia, North America, and Africa.</p>
<p>
<ext-link ext-link-type="uri" xlink:href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenvs.2021.711950/full">Fadare and Okoh</ext-link> investigated the abundance of genes encoding ESBL, p<italic>AmpC</italic>, and non-lactam resistance in multidrug-resistant <italic>Enterobacteriaceae</italic> in wastewater effluents in the Eastern Cape Province, Republic of South Africa. They observed that 72.4% of the isolates had at least one &#x3b2;-lactamase, while 86.2% had a non-lactam resistance gene determinant, indicating that WWTP effluents are key reservoirs of <italic>Enterobacteriaceae</italic> and their associated antibiotic resistance genes. <ext-link ext-link-type="uri" xlink:href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenvs.2021.738158/full">Hubeny et al.</ext-link> used metagenomics to assess hospital wastewater impact on the occurrence and diversity of beta-lactamase genes during wastewater treatment in Poland, emphasising carbapenemase genes. Their results showed that bacteria of the <italic>Fusobacteriaceae</italic> family might be involved in antimicrobial resistance (AMR) spread in the environment. Furthermore, they demonstrated that some resistance genes were only found in the wastewater influent, while others like the <italic>bla</italic>
<sub>IMP</sub> showed increased abundance after the WWTP and concluded that the inflow of hospital wastewater contributed to the spread of AMR in the aquatic environment.</p>
<p>Although AMR could occur intrinsically, anthropogenic activities are known to exacerbate the situation. <ext-link ext-link-type="uri" xlink:href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2022.794513/full">Bong et al.</ext-link> investigated the prevalence and diversity of antibiotic-resistant <italic>Escherichia coli</italic> from anthropogenic-impacted Larut River in Malaysia using culture and a quadruplex PCR. The authors observed a higher prevalence of multiple antibiotic resistance <italic>E. coli</italic> phenotypes and resistance genes in wastewater effluents than in river waters, and they concluded that anthropogenic inputs had an impact on the composition and diversity of multiple antibiotic-resistant (MAR) phenotypes and their resistance genes in the Larut River. Similarly, <ext-link ext-link-type="uri" xlink:href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenvs.2021.737435/full">Kayode et al.</ext-link> used culture and multiplex PCR to explore the presence of multidrug-resistant <italic>Listeria monocytogenes</italic> in South African ambient waters. Their findings revealed 52 resistance patterns against 22 antibiotics, with resistances ranging from 52.63 to 100% in most isolates. More than 80% of the isolates were multidrug-resistant, implying that aquatic environments may serve as a reservoir for antimicrobial-resistant <italic>L. monocytogenes</italic> to other niches such as the food chain. Using culture techniques, <ext-link ext-link-type="uri" xlink:href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenvs.2021.751732/full">Fatoba et al.</ext-link> assessed the impact of chicken litter application on the transfer of antibiotic-resistant <italic>E. coli</italic> to agricultural soils. They found that 61.5% of the multidrug-resistant (MDR) isolates were from litter-amended soil versus only 1.9% from non-amended soil, implying that chicken litter application resulted in the transfer of antibiotic-resistant <italic>E. coli</italic> to the soil, enhancing the soil resistome. This type of resilience could be passed on to farm products. <ext-link ext-link-type="uri" xlink:href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenvs.2022.858964/full">Iwu et al.</ext-link> analysed MDR <italic>E. coli</italic> pathovars levels in preharvest environmental samples, including irrigation water and agricultural soils. About 60% of irrigation water and 20% of the farm soil pathovars were multidrug-resistant, harbouring different resistance gene combinations and revealing an abundance of highly diverse MDR <italic>E. coli</italic> pathovars in the preharvest environment.</p>
<p>
<ext-link ext-link-type="uri" xlink:href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenvs.2022.824963/full">Baquero et al.</ext-link> reviewed the influence of water and soil coalescent microbiotic particles (particles &#x3c; 2&#xa0;mm to which bacteria can attach) on AMR evolution and spread. They reported that natural and anthropogenic activities enhance the interaction and merging of these particles in soil and water, creating a favourable environment for the creation of microbial communities and the potential exchange of antimicrobial resistance genes. Therefore, the microbiotic particles could play a significant role in the spread of AMR globally and controlling them could assist in counteracting AMR.</p>
<p>Collectively, these studies reveal how anthropogenic activities like WWTPs and agriculture contribute to the spread of AMR in the environment. They also demonstrate how the environment serves as a reservoir for antibiotic-resistant bacteria and antibiotic resistance genes, which can be transmitted to humans and animals through farm produce, necessitating the adoption of a one health approach to combating antibiotic resistance in the first place.</p>
</body>
<back>
<sec id="s1">
<title>Author Contributions</title>
<p>The editorial was drafted by LA, modified and approved by the topic Co-editors (TS, RS, ME-L, and IK). All authors listed directly, substantially, and intellectually contributed to this Edited Collection and approved this editorial for publication.</p>
</sec>
<sec sec-type="COI-statement" id="s2">
<title>Conflict of Interest</title>
<p>The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.</p>
</sec>
<sec sec-type="disclaimer" id="s3">
<title>Publisher&#x2019;s Note</title>
<p>All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.</p>
</sec>
<ack>
<p>We are very grateful to all the contributing authors for their positive engagement with this Frontiers Research Topic and to the Frontiers staff for committing to seeing the successful realisation of this research topic.</p>
</ack>
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</article>