Much of the world we live in is composed of water. Water sources come from the sea, rivers, streams, lakes, and wetlands. Since this is the case, it is important to know what is found within these aquatic systems in order to better understand them. Extensive research has been done on water sources because water is described as a major environment in which bacteria can thrive. One research study in particular was done out of the Lambro River located North of Milan. Here, virus-like particles were isolated from collected water samples in order to study any bacteria and virus activity that could be present in the river system. The main focus of this research is to sequence and analyze samples in search of bacterial genes. Mostly, with a focus on bacteria that exhibit antimicrobial resistance mechanisms. The presence of antimicrobial resistant bacteria in rivers could be closely related to the fact that many rivers can be polluted by mixtures of antibiotics and wastes that become present as a result of untreated sewage, hospital waste, and agricultural run-off. This mixture of water and waste could be a driving force in the evolution and antimicrobial properties of bacteria. It is important to understand our water systems because as humans we interact closely with the world around us. Contaminated water could in turn lead to contaminated products that are consumed by humans.
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| Microbial counts for three collected water samples expressed in CFU/mL. Microbial counts were carried out in agar media after incubation at 20 degrees celsius for 48 hours.
Reference: Arioli S, Colombo S, Gargari G, Mora D, Neri E, Scala G. (2017). Viromes As Genetic Reservoir for the Microbial Communities in Aquatic Environments: A Focus on Antimicrobial-Resistance Genes. Frontiers in Microbiology. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2017.01095
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