Nature Communications

Geographics and bacterial networks differently shape the acquired and latent global sewage resistomes

H Hannah-Marie Martiny P Patrick Munk A Alessandro Fuschi � Ágnes Becsei N Nikiforos Pyrounakis C Christian Brinch N Nawel Zaatout C Catherine Rees G Guangming Jiang J Jiahua Shi B Bernhard Benka F Franz Allerberger S Sandra Koeberl-Jelovcan K Khalil Hasan Abdulla A Ali Bin Thani A Anowara Begum C Carlon Worrell T Tamegnon Victorien Dougnon F Freddy Soria N Natasa Mazalica T Teddie Rahube A Andreza Francisco Martins C Carlos Alberto Tagliati L Larissa Camila Ribeiro de Souza A Ariane Nzouankeu M Muhammad Attiq Rehman J Jeff Gauthier R Roger C. Lévesque S Sean D. Workman C Christopher Yost A Aiko Adell Nakashima A Andres Opazo G Gerardo Gonzales Y Yongjie Yu P Pilar Donado-Godoy T Tadjidine Youssouf P Pablo-César Rivera-Navarro M Matijana Jergovic J Jasna Hrenovic R Renata Karpíšková J Julien Kalpy Coulibaly W William Calero-Cáceres M Mohamed Abouelnaga A Anna-Maria Hokajärvi A Annamari Heikinheimo S Soizick Le Guyader A Andreas Nitsche A Annika Brinkmann S Sara Schubert T Thomas Berendonk U Uli Klümper E Ernest Bonah S Solomon Asante Sefa A Andrew Camilleri C Courage Kosi Setsoafia Saba V Victoria Bernice Sedor K Kassiani Mellou T Theologia Sideroglou C Charalampos Kotzamanidis J Jens-Peter B. Henriksen M Mie Møller T Thorunn Rafnar Thorsteinsdottir A A. A. Mohamed Hatha S Sima Mohammad B Burhan Shamurad H Hiwa Ali Faraj D Dearbháile Morris L Louise O’Connor J Jacob Moran-Gilad R Roberta Orletti G Giuseppina La Rosa M Marcello Iaconelli A Antonio Battisti L Lucia Decastelli M Maira Napoleoni A Alessandra De Cesare G Gianluca Corno J Jelena Avsejenko G Ghassan M. Matar C Christian Penny L Luc Hervé Samison D Daniel L. Banda H Heera Rajandas S Sivachandran Parimannan M Malcolm Vella Haber S Sunita J. Santchurn J Julian Carrillo-Reyes J Julián Osvaldo Ovis-Sánchez R René Arredondo-Hernández A Aleksandar Vujacic D Dijana Djurovic P Pushkar Pal C Carlos J. A. Campos I Isabelle Pattis S Stephen Chambers G Gert-Jan Jeunen C Charles Elikwu O Olayinka Osuolale M Mwapu Ndahi O Oluwadamilola Abiodun-Adewusi A Amen Ekhosuehi A Ayorinde Afolayan K Kayode Fashae M Mabel Kamweli Aworh A Akeem Olayiwola Ahmed I Ibrahim Adisa Raufu I Ismail Odetokun S Samaila Musa Chiroma C Claire Mitchell R Rune Holmstad N Natalie Weiler D Dariusz Wasyl M Magdalena Zając E Eugénia Cardoso C Célia Manaia M Maria Jorge Campos H Hor-Gil Hur M Min Joon Song S Sukhwan Yoon O Olga Burduniuc P Peiying Hong V Vladimir Radosavljevic A Angel Anika Cokro D Dagmar Gavacová M Marija Trkov R Rukayya Hussain Abubakar K Karen Keddy I Isabel Martínez-Alcalá M Marta Cerdà-Cuéllar A Ana Cañas F Fernando González-Candelas Y Yahia Ali Sabiel T Tanja van der Heijden Y Yu-ping Hong J Julius John Medardus R Rajeev P. Nagassar C Cemil Kürekci P Patrick McNamara L Lisa Wong E Erica Fuhrmeister J John Scott Meschke N Nicola Beck A Ayella Maile-Moskowitz J Jens Thomsen O Ouidiane Obaidi B Bruce Paterson A Anne Leonard L Lihong Zhang K Kevin Chau D D. G. Joakim Larsson M Marion Koopmans D Daniel Remondini I István Csabai F Frank M. Aarestrup

Abstract

Abstract Antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs) have rapidly emerged and spread globally, but the pathways driving their spread remain poorly understood. We analyzed 1240 sewage samples from 351 cities across 111 countries, comparing ARGs known to be mobilized with those identified through functional metagenomics (FG). FG ARGs showed stronger associations with bacterial taxa than the acquired ARGs. Network analyses further confirmed this and showed potential for source attribution of both known and novel ARGs. The FG resistome was more evenly dispersed globally, whereas the acquired resistome followed distinct geographical patterns. City-wise distance-decay analyses revealed that the FG ARGs showed significant decay within countries but not across regions or globally. In contrast, acquired ARGs showed decay at both national and regional scales. At the variant level, both ARG groups had significant national and regional distance-decay effects, but only FG ARGs at a global scale. Additionally, we observed stronger distance effects in Sub-Saharan Africa and East Asia compared to North America. Our findings suggest that differential selection and niche competition, rather than dispersal, shape the global resistome patterns. A limited number of bacterial taxa may act as reservoirs of latent FG ARGs, highlighting the need of targeted surveillance to mitigate future resistance threats.

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Article Details

Volume / Issue Vol. 16, Issue 1
Published November 21, 2025
ISSN 2041-1723
Publisher Nature Portfolio

Journal Info

Nature Communications

Nature Portfolio
ISSN: 2041-1723 Open Access Life Sciences

Authors (154)

H

Hannah-Marie Martiny

P

Patrick Munk

A

Alessandro Fuschi

�

Ágnes Becsei

N

Nikiforos Pyrounakis

C

Christian Brinch

N

Nawel Zaatout

C

Catherine Rees

G

Guangming Jiang

J

Jiahua Shi

B

Bernhard Benka

F

Franz Allerberger

S

Sandra Koeberl-Jelovcan

K

Khalil Hasan Abdulla

A

Ali Bin Thani

A

Anowara Begum

C

Carlon Worrell

T

Tamegnon Victorien Dougnon

F

Freddy Soria

N

Natasa Mazalica

T

Teddie Rahube

A

Andreza Francisco Martins

C

Carlos Alberto Tagliati

L

Larissa Camila Ribeiro de Souza

A

Ariane Nzouankeu

M

Muhammad Attiq Rehman

J

Jeff Gauthier

R

Roger C. Lévesque

S

Sean D. Workman

C

Christopher Yost

A

Aiko Adell Nakashima

A

Andres Opazo

G

Gerardo Gonzales

Y

Yongjie Yu

P

Pilar Donado-Godoy

T

Tadjidine Youssouf

P

Pablo-César Rivera-Navarro

M

Matijana Jergovic

J

Jasna Hrenovic

R

Renata Karpíšková

J

Julien Kalpy Coulibaly

W

William Calero-Cáceres

M

Mohamed Abouelnaga

A

Anna-Maria Hokajärvi

A

Annamari Heikinheimo

S

Soizick Le Guyader

A

Andreas Nitsche

A

Annika Brinkmann

S

Sara Schubert

T

Thomas Berendonk

U

Uli Klümper

E

Ernest Bonah

S

Solomon Asante Sefa

A

Andrew Camilleri

C

Courage Kosi Setsoafia Saba

V

Victoria Bernice Sedor

K

Kassiani Mellou

T

Theologia Sideroglou

C

Charalampos Kotzamanidis

J

Jens-Peter B. Henriksen

M

Mie Møller

T

Thorunn Rafnar Thorsteinsdottir

A

A. A. Mohamed Hatha

S

Sima Mohammad

B

Burhan Shamurad

H

Hiwa Ali Faraj

D

Dearbháile Morris

L

Louise O’Connor

J

Jacob Moran-Gilad

R

Roberta Orletti

G

Giuseppina La Rosa

M

Marcello Iaconelli

A

Antonio Battisti

L

Lucia Decastelli

M

Maira Napoleoni

A

Alessandra De Cesare

G

Gianluca Corno

J

Jelena Avsejenko

G

Ghassan M. Matar

C

Christian Penny

L

Luc Hervé Samison

D

Daniel L. Banda

H

Heera Rajandas

S

Sivachandran Parimannan

M

Malcolm Vella Haber

S

Sunita J. Santchurn

J

Julian Carrillo-Reyes

J

Julián Osvaldo Ovis-Sánchez

R

René Arredondo-Hernández

A

Aleksandar Vujacic

D

Dijana Djurovic

P

Pushkar Pal

C

Carlos J. A. Campos

I

Isabelle Pattis

S

Stephen Chambers

G

Gert-Jan Jeunen

C

Charles Elikwu

O

Olayinka Osuolale

M

Mwapu Ndahi

O

Oluwadamilola Abiodun-Adewusi

A

Amen Ekhosuehi

A

Ayorinde Afolayan

K

Kayode Fashae

M

Mabel Kamweli Aworh

A

Akeem Olayiwola Ahmed

I

Ibrahim Adisa Raufu

I

Ismail Odetokun

S

Samaila Musa Chiroma

C

Claire Mitchell

R

Rune Holmstad

N

Natalie Weiler

D

Dariusz Wasyl

M

Magdalena Zając

E

Eugénia Cardoso

C

Célia Manaia

M

Maria Jorge Campos

H

Hor-Gil Hur

M

Min Joon Song

S

Sukhwan Yoon

O

Olga Burduniuc

P

Peiying Hong

V

Vladimir Radosavljevic

A

Angel Anika Cokro

D

Dagmar Gavacová

M

Marija Trkov

R

Rukayya Hussain Abubakar

K

Karen Keddy

I

Isabel Martínez-Alcalá

M

Marta Cerdà-Cuéllar

A

Ana Cañas

F

Fernando González-Candelas

Y

Yahia Ali Sabiel

T

Tanja van der Heijden

Y

Yu-ping Hong

J

Julius John Medardus

R

Rajeev P. Nagassar

C

Cemil Kürekci

P

Patrick McNamara

L

Lisa Wong

E

Erica Fuhrmeister

J

John Scott Meschke

N

Nicola Beck

A

Ayella Maile-Moskowitz

J

Jens Thomsen

O

Ouidiane Obaidi

B

Bruce Paterson

A

Anne Leonard

L

Lihong Zhang

K

Kevin Chau

D

D. G. Joakim Larsson

M

Marion Koopmans

D

Daniel Remondini

I

István Csabai

F

Frank M. Aarestrup

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