Horizontal gene transfer of antibiotic resistance in freshwater lake bacteria: How textile-derived fibers influence the dynamics

Freshwater lakes and reservoirs, whether natural or man-made, are subject to increasing levels of anthropogenic contamination, notably textile-derived fibers. Bacterial communities are permanently influenced by changes in environmental conditions driven by anthropogenic impact. Yet, there exists a considerable deficit in understanding the mechanisms governing formation of bacterial biofilms on textile fibers, which serve as conducive environment for HGT events, potentially fostering the proliferation of antibiotic resistance among bacterial populations. Furthermore, there is a paucity of knowledge concerning the adaptations of indigenous microbial communities to the increasing prevalence of synthetic fibrous materials within freshwater ecosystems. These highlighted concerns necessitate thorough investigation and comprehension. As such, we will employ current metagenomic and bioinformatic approaches together with flow cytometry (FACS) to deeply investigate HGT in freshwater bacteria on textile fibers. Furthermore, because targeted and shotgun sequencing data lacks linkage information, we aim to attribute plasmids, and ARG to host cells using in vivo proximity-ligation method Hi-C, which can be accomplished directly from fresh samples, without the need for cultivation or the extraction of high-molecular weight DNA. This approach is new but opens new horizons in understanding the bacterioplankton ecology.