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This is an early access version, the complete PDF, HTML, and XML versions will be available soon.
Article

Accumulation of Heavy Metals and Antibiotic Resistance Genes in Sediments from Eriocheir sinensis Ponds and Their Correlation with Bacterial Communities

by
Guanzheng Yang
1,†,
Lei Gao
1,†,
Weishang Kong
1,
Xiaoqing Wang
1,
Chuangchuang Wei
1,
Yawei Cao
1,
Mingxiang Pan
1,
Qingguo Meng
1,
Wei Gu
1,* and
Qing Wang
2,*
1
College of Marine Science and Engineering, Nanjing Normal University, 2 Xuelin Road, Nanjing 210023, China
2
Nanjing Institute of Fisheries Science, No.183 Hanzhongmen Street, Nanjing 210036, China
*
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
†
These authors contributed equally to this work.
Water 2025, 17(12), 1780; https://doi.org/10.3390/w17121780
Submission received: 29 April 2025 / Revised: 9 June 2025 / Accepted: 9 June 2025 / Published: 13 June 2025
(This article belongs to the Section Water Quality and Contamination)
Versions Notes

Abstract

During intensive aquaculture of Eriocheir sinensis (E. sinensis), wastewater containing feed additives, heavy metals, and antibiotics can cause water eutrophication and lead to the accumulation of complex pollutants in sediments. In this study, heavy metals and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) were analyzed for their distribution and accumulation patterns via ICP-OES and qPCR, and their correlations with bacterial communities in sediments from E. sinensis ponds were evaluated using co-occurrence network and redundancy analysis. Our results demonstrated that aquaculture activities significantly elevated the concentrations of heavy metals such as Cadmium (Cd) and Manganese (Mn) in the sediments, and Cd was identified as the dominant factor contributing to the increase in the potential ecological risk index (RI). The abundance of ARGs significantly increased, with sulfonamide resistance genes (sul1, sul2), β-lactam resistance genes (blaTEM), and integron-associated genes (intl1) showing the highest levels. Correlation and redundancy analyses showed that most ARGs were positively correlated with and linked to Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Dechloromonas as potential hosts. Positive correlations were generally observed among heavy metals, suggesting a common source, namely aquaculture wastewater, and some showed positive associations with Acidobacteria. This study provides a theoretical basis for further understanding the distribution, accumulation patterns, and coupling relationships of heavy metals and ARGs, as well as their relation and effects on bacterial communities in the sediment of E. sinensis ponds.
Keywords: Eriocheir sinensis; sediments; coupled contaminants; bacterial community Eriocheir sinensis; sediments; coupled contaminants; bacterial community

Share and Cite

MDPI and ACS Style

Yang, G.; Gao, L.; Kong, W.; Wang, X.; Wei, C.; Cao, Y.; Pan, M.; Meng, Q.; Gu, W.; Wang, Q. Accumulation of Heavy Metals and Antibiotic Resistance Genes in Sediments from Eriocheir sinensis Ponds and Their Correlation with Bacterial Communities. Water 2025, 17, 1780. https://doi.org/10.3390/w17121780

AMA Style

Yang G, Gao L, Kong W, Wang X, Wei C, Cao Y, Pan M, Meng Q, Gu W, Wang Q. Accumulation of Heavy Metals and Antibiotic Resistance Genes in Sediments from Eriocheir sinensis Ponds and Their Correlation with Bacterial Communities. Water. 2025; 17(12):1780. https://doi.org/10.3390/w17121780

Chicago/Turabian Style

Yang, Guanzheng, Lei Gao, Weishang Kong, Xiaoqing Wang, Chuangchuang Wei, Yawei Cao, Mingxiang Pan, Qingguo Meng, Wei Gu, and Qing Wang. 2025. "Accumulation of Heavy Metals and Antibiotic Resistance Genes in Sediments from Eriocheir sinensis Ponds and Their Correlation with Bacterial Communities" Water 17, no. 12: 1780. https://doi.org/10.3390/w17121780

APA Style

Yang, G., Gao, L., Kong, W., Wang, X., Wei, C., Cao, Y., Pan, M., Meng, Q., Gu, W., & Wang, Q. (2025). Accumulation of Heavy Metals and Antibiotic Resistance Genes in Sediments from Eriocheir sinensis Ponds and Their Correlation with Bacterial Communities. Water, 17(12), 1780. https://doi.org/10.3390/w17121780

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