Publications

Journal Articles

Beyond borders: plasmids drive a shared antibiotic resistome in European urban water systems

Published in Microbiome, 2026

This study applies a multi-omics approach, including metagenomic and direct plasmidome sequencing, high-throughput qPCR array, and whole genome sequencing of plasmid isolates, to comprehensively profile the microbial plasmidome and resistome on 78 samples across UWSs in Denmark, Spain, and the UK. We successfully uncovered an extensive plasmid and ARG diversity that could not be fully captured by a single method, especially identified 78,574 plasmids, including 20,925 plasmids previously unreported. We also observed that plasmids carried a disproportionate share of clinically relevant ARGs, particularly beta-lactamase resistance genes; most importantly, they were preferentially located on transmissible plasmids. Furtherly, plasmids harbor ARG can enhance their persistence in wastewater ecosystems, especially harboring multiple types of ARGs. Moreover, Bacteroides emerged as a unique persistent ARG reservoir not only for harboring and disseminating diverse resistance genes especially in residential-relevant areas, but also emerged as a major driver of antimicrobial resistance dynamics across different wastewater treatment processes.

Recommended citation: Wanli He, Ziqi Wu et.al. (2024). "doi.org/10.1186/s40168-025-02253-0." Microbiome . 14:39.
Download Paper

Plasmid-driven clonal expansion of multidrugresistant monophasic Salmonella Typhimurium in a Global Food Trade Hub

Published in Emerging Microbes & Infections, 2025

Shenzhen, a major port city with a heavily imported food supply, offers a critical setting to examine the spread and adaptation of multidrug-resistant Salmonella 1,4,[5],12:i: – (S. 1,4,[5],12:i:-). This study integrates 17 years of genomic, epidemiological, and food safety data. We explored the serovar’s population structure, antibiotic resistance gene (ARG) patterns, and transmission dynamics locally and globally. Our analyses revealed substantial rise in S. 1,4,[5],12:i: – prevalence among non-typhoidal Salmonella isolates over the past 17 years, from 2.27% in 2007 to 24.79% in 2023. S. 1,4,[5],12:i: – was predominated by ST34 (97.9%), with high genotypic resistance to aminoglycosides (100%), tetracyclines (96.6%), β-lactams (89.3%), and sulphonamides (88.5%). Phylogenetic analysis separated S. 1,4,[5],12:i: into four clades. Clade 4, first detected in Shenzhen in 2013, emerged as the predominant lineage by 2023 (56.9%). This clade exhibited minimal genetic diversity (≤ 38 core SNPs), with adaptive traits linked to the acquisition of resistance-associated plasmids. Notably, plasmid-driven ARGs, including carbapenem resistance genes, have emerged as a growing concern. Transmission analysis identified two key transmission dynamics: transient outbreaks primarily involving food handlers and persistent lineages sustained through local and international spread, often facilitated by the food supply chain. These findings underscore the role of occupational carriers and imported food products in the dissemination of ARGs, emphasizing the need for enhanced surveillance and improved health and hygiene practices for food handlers. This study provides a comprehensive molecular epidemiological framework for addressing multidrug-resistant Salmonella in globalized urban food hubs, offering a foundation for future surveillance and control efforts.

Recommended citation: Dingjie Huang, Ziqi WU et.al. (2025). "doi.org/10.1080/22221751.2025.2542251." Emerging Microbes & Infections.
Download Paper | Download Slides

Genome enrichment of rare and unknown species from complicated microbiomes by nanopore selective sequencing

Published in Genome Research, 2024

Rare species are vital members of a microbial community, but retrieving their genomes is difficult because of their low abundance. The ReadUntil (RU) approach allows nanopore devices to sequence specific DNA molecules selectively in real time, which provides an opportunity for enriching rare species. Despite the robustness of enriching rare species by reducing the sequencing depth of known host sequences, such as the human genome, there is still a gap in RU-based enriching of rare species in environmental samples whose community composition is unclear, and many rare species have poor or incomplete reference genomes in public databases. Therefore, here we present metaRUpore to overcome this challenge. When we applied metaRUpore to a thermophilic anaerobic digester (TAD) community and human gut microbial community, it reduced coverage of the high-abundance populations and modestly increased (∼2×) the genome coverage of the rare taxa, facilitating successful recovery of near-finished metagenome-assembled genomes (nf-MAGs) of rare species. The simplicity and robustness of the approach make it accessible for laboratories with moderate computational resources, and hold the potential to become the standard practice in future metagenomic sequencing of complicated microbiomes.

Recommended citation: Yuhong Sun, Ziqi WU et.al. (2024). "doi/10.1101/gr.277266.122." Genome Research.
Download Paper

Strategies and tools in illumina and nanopore‐integrated metagenomic analysis of microbiome data

Published in iMeta, 2022

Metagenomic strategy serves as the foundation for the ecological exploration of novel bioresources (e.g., industrial enzymes and bioactive molecules) and biohazards (e.g., pathogens and antibiotic resistance genes) in natural and engineered microbial systems across multiple disciplines. Recent advancements in sequencing technology have fostered rapid development in the field of microbiome research where an increasing number of studies have applied both illumina short reads (SRs) and nanopore long reads (LRs) sequencing in their metagenomic workflow. However, given the high complexity of an environmental microbiome data set and the bioinformatic challenges caused by the unique features of these sequencing technologies, integrating SRs and LRs is not as straightforward as one might assume. The fast renewal of existing tools and growing diversity of new algorithms make access to this field even more difficult. Therefore, here we systematically summarized the complete workflow from DNA extraction to data processing strategies for applying illumina and nanopore-integrated metagenomics in the investigation in environmental microbiomes. Overall, this review aims to provide a timely knowledge framework for researchers that are interested in or are struggling with the SRs and LRs integration in their metagenomic analysis. The discussions presented will facilitate improved ecological understanding of community functionalities and assembly of natural, engineered, and human microbiomes, benefiting researchers from multiple disciplines.

Recommended citation: Yu Xia, Ziqi Wu et.al. (2022). "doi.org/10.1002/imt2.72." iMeta. 1(2).
Download Paper | Download Slides

Nanopore-based long-read metagenomics uncover the resistome intrusion by antibiotic resistant bacteria from treated wastewater in receiving water body

Published in Water Research, 2022

Wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluent discharge could induce the resistome enrichment in the receiving water environments. However, because of the general lack of a robust antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB) identification method, the driving mechanism for resistome accumulation in receiving environment is unclear. Here, we took advantage of the enhanced ARBs recognition by nanopore long reads to distinguish the indigenous ARBs and the accumulation of WWTP-borne ARBs in the receiving water body of a domestic WWTP. A bioinformatic framework (named ARGpore2: https://github.com/sustc-xylab/ARGpore2) was constructed and evaluate to facilitate antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and ARBs identification in nanopore reads. ARGs identification by ARGpore2 showed comparable precision and recall to that of the commonly adopt BLASTP-based method, whereas the spectrum of ARBs doubled that of the assembled Illumina dataset. Totally, we identified 33 ARBs genera carrying 65 ARG subtypes in the receiving seawater, whose concentration was in general 10 times higher than clean seawater’s. Notably we report a primary resistome intrusion caused by the revival of residual microbes survived from disinfection treatment. These WWTP-borne ARBs, including several animal/human enteric pathogens, contributed up to 85% of the receiving water resistome. Plasmids and class 1 integrons were reckoned as major vehicles facilitating the persistence and dissemination of ARGs. Moreover, our work demonstrated the importance of extensive carrier identification in determining the driving force of multifactor coupled resistome booming in complicated environmental conditions, thereby paving the way for establishing priority for effective ARGs mitigation strategies.

Recommended citation: Ziqi WU et.al. (2022). "10.1016/j.watres.2022.119282." Water Research . 226(119282).
Download Paper | Download Slides

Ziqi WU (Bruce)