The Detection of Antibiotic Resistance Organisms and the Development of a QPCR Protocol for the Enumeration of Args in Domestic Greywater Systems: A Case Study Conducted in Cape Town

Description

The  risk  of  infection  from pathogens  and  dissemination  of  resistant  genes  present  in  greywater  is  considered  to  be  the  most significant human health risk associated with greywater use.  Thus this project  was aimed  at  detecting and enumerating antibiotic resistant genes  (ARGs) in  domestic greywater systems, and to assess whether these systems can support the growth and proliferation of resistant organisms. The specific objectives were as follows: i) Determine whether domestic greywater is a source of antibiotic resistance genes and pathogenic organisms; ii) Enumeration of ARGs in various greywater sources using qPCR; iii) Water analysis to measure the levels of antibiotics present in greywater; iv) Development of novel FACS assays to screen for ARGs from environmental samples; v) Screen for the presence of integrons as markers of horizontal gene transfer.