Metagenomic profiling of bacterial community in municipal wastewater and its impact on the Ganges River in Allahabad region

Abstract

Water is the most favorable surrounding for various life forms to grow. It is the dump yard for newlinemost of the municipal wastewaters and it is considered as a salient reservoir of a broad spectrum newlineof microbial populations, including pathogenic ones, which have potential to cause newlinecontamination and pose risks to public health and environment. This study estimated the newlinephysicochemical properties and bacterial diversity of pre- and post-treated wastewater samples newlinefrom four different municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) Jhunsi STP (16 MLD), newlineSalore STP (29 MLD), Rajapur STP (60 MLD), Naini STP (80 MLD) and their receiving newlineGanges river water in Prayagraj (Allahabad), India. The antibiotics susceptibility profile of newlinebacterial isolates were determined using the agar well diffusion method. Almost major newlineparameters studied were reduced to much extent after the treatment in all WWTPs and were newlinewithin the permissible limits of World Health Organization (WHO) and Central Pollution newlineControl Board (CPCB) standards of India. newlineA total of 69 bacterial isolates were cultured, and the majority of the isolates were identified as newlineBacillus spp. (47.9%) followed by Gammaproteobacteria (25%) which included members of the newlinegenera Aeromonas, Acinetobacter, Pseudomonas and Enterobacter. Mostly identified bacteria newlinewere pathogenic for human life. Most isolates regardless of the site of sampling showed newlineresistance to cefotaxime and ampicillin (50% and 41.6%) respectively. Municipal wastewater newlineoffers an atmosphere conducive to bacteria with antibiotic resistance that can harbor resistance newlinebacteria and their resistance genes to receiving water sections with potential public health newlinedanger. newlineKeywords: Physico-chemical parameter, Municipal wastewater treatment plants, Ganges River, newlineBacterial diversity, Antibiotics-resistant bacteria and 16S rRNA sequencing. newline