Objective To determine the distribution of various antibiotic resistance genes （ARGs） in raw water from drinking water source， and to explore the correlation between the ARGs and common carbapenem-resistant and multidrug-resistant bacteria isolated from drinking water source， so as to provide scientific evidence for improving the safety of urban drinking water.
Methods A total of 30 raw water samples were collected from a major drinking water source in Shanghai in 2020. Bacterial strains were selectively cultured on Columbia blood agar medium containing 1 μg·μL-1 meropenem， and then identified by MALDI-TOF-MS mass spectrometry system. Minimum inhibitory concentration （MIC） of the strains was detected by broth microdilution method. The water samples were filtered through a 0.45 μm filter membrane and diversity of ARGs was determined by using high-throughput metagenomic sequencing.
Results A total of 64 strains of carbapenem-resistant bacteria were isolated from the water samples， including Stenotrophomonas maltophilia， Enterococcus faecium， Pseudomonas aeruginosa， Acinetobacter baumannii and Klebsiella pneumoniae， which were resistant to a variety of common antibiotics. Using metagenomic sequencing， 1 244 ARGs were identified. The relative average abundance of the top 100 ARGs accounted for 96.1%， and that of the multidrug-resistant ARGs accounted for 63.41%. Furthermore， the multidrug-resistant ARGs were mainly adeJ， mexT， adeC， oprM， mexF， mdfA， mexB， mdtK， adeK， etc. Using Spearman's correlation， five multidrug-resistant bacteria isolated from the drinking water source were significantly associated with the ARGs.
Conclusion Relative abundance of multidrug-resistant ARGs is high in raw water from main drinking water source. The five isolated carbapenem-resistant and multidrug-resistant bacteria are significantly correlated with the ARGs. It warrants strengthening the rational and standardized application of antibiotics to protect water resources and ensure the safety of drinking water.
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