Building-Scale Wastewater Metagenomics Reveals Temporal Patterns in Resistance and Virulence Genes.

Background/

Objectives

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and virulence represent co-evolving dimensions of microbial pathogenic potential whose ecological organization in building-scale wastewater systems remains poorly understood.

Methods

Using shotgun metagenomic sequencing, we characterized the temporal dynamics and ecological associations of antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs) and virulence factors (VFs) in 12 wastewater grab samples (2 per semester) collected from a university residence hall designated for COVID-19 quarantine between 2021 and 2023.

Results

The wastewater microbiome was anchored by a stable core of gut-associated anaerobic bacteria, with community composition exhibiting significant Spring-versus-Fall structuring and a year × semester interaction that explained 60% of the community variation. A marked shift toward opportunistic taxa, particularly Acinetobacter, during Fall 2023 represented the most pronounced temporal perturbation. Total ARG abundance remained stable across semesters, while resistome composition shifted significantly, indicating that temporal dynamics were driven by compositional turnover rather than changes in overall resistance burden. VF functional categories were broadly conserved across sampling periods, consistent with their structural embedding within the persistent fecal core microbiome. Correlation and network analyses revealed modular ecological coupling between resistance and virulence functional categories, with metal/co-resistance and fosfomycin classes showing the strongest associations with virulence functions. At the community level, a Benjamini-Hochberg-corrected co-occurrence network resolved into taxa-anchored resistance modules and separate virulence-function clusters, with Acinetobacter and fluoroquinolone resistance as the principal connectors.

Conclusions

These findings indicate that building-scale wastewater metagenomics can capture ecologically structured functional gene dynamics, highlighting its potential as a surveillance tool for monitoring AMR and virulence in built environments.