Selective spread of mobile antibiotic resistance genes in wastewater microbiomes driven by the non-antibiotic pharmaceutical carbamazepine

Abstract

Carbamazepine (CBZ), a widely used anticonvulsant, is a persistent aquatic micropollutant that withstands biodegradation and accumulates in wastewater-impacted environments. While non-antibiotic pharmaceuticals, including CBZ, have been shown to stimulate horizontal gene transfer (HGT) under laboratory conditions, their effects in complex microbial communities remain poorly understood. Here, we applied an experimental evolution framework to wastewater microbiomes exposed to a gradient of environmentally relevant CBZ concentrations (0-50 {micro}g/mL) for three days. CBZ reduced growth of the community in a concentration-dependent manner. Still, community composition was largely unaffected by CBZ exposure. However, antibiotic resistance gene (ARG)- and mobile genetic element (MGE)-specific responses emerged. Among the tested 26 ARGs, four clinically relevant ones (blaCMY, blaOXA-48, blaCTX-M, dfrA1) increased in relative abundance in a dose-dependent manner, correlating with proliferation of IncP and IncW plasmids and the transposon IS26, pointing to enhanced HGT as the underlying mechanism. In contrast, only ermF abundance rose independently of MGEs, suggesting direct selection. Other ARGs and MGEs, including integron integrase intI1 and IncQ plasmids, showed no consistent CBZ response. Effects were strongest at subinhibitory concentrations (0.05-5 {micro}g/mL), matching upper levels detected in surface waters. These findings demonstrate that CBZ can selectively promote AMR dissemination through both HGT and direct selection, but in a targeted rather than community-wide manner. Our results highlight the need to consider non-antibiotic pharmaceuticals in AMR surveillance and environmental risk assessment frameworks, as they may shape the environmental resistome beyond antibiotic exposure.