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Lookup NU author(s): Panagiota Adamou, Emeritus Professor David Graham
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© 2026 Elsevier Ltd. All rights are reserved, including those for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies. Heavy metal pollution is widespread in river systems, yet the abundance and diversity of viable metal resistant bacteria (MRB) potentially relevant to human and animal exposure risks remain poorly defined. This study quantifies the diversity, abundance, and distribution of culturable MRB across four rivers in the United Kingdom and India, spanning wide gradients of metal and faecal pollution. A total of 1830 MRB (670 from water; 1160 from sediments) were isolated using R2A media amended with Co, Cd, Zn, Ni, Pb, Cr, and Cu at minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) under gut-simulating conditions (37 °C). MALDI-TOF MS and 16S rRNA sequencing identified 73 genera, with consistently greater diversity and abundance of MRB in sediments than in the water column, particularly at highly polluted sites. Metal concentrations were positively associated with cultured, metal-resistant potential pathogenic genera (r > 0.60, p < 0.05), including Bacillus, Escherichia, Klebsiella, and Enterococcus. RDA analysis also showed that metals collectively explained 74% and 62.4% of the variation in potential pathogenic genera in water and sediments, respectively. Sites impacted by both metals and faecal pollution showed the highest abundances of these genera, indicating that while metal contamination enriches MRB, concurrent faecal waste inputs enhance potential pathogenic MRB selection. Isolates from polluted sites exhibited higher metal MICs, suggesting adaptive responses to chronic exposure. This study shows that heavy metal pollution is not only an ecological stressor but can also be a direct driver of viable, culturable, and potentially pathogenic MRB selection in river systems that could plausibly be enriched in the mammalian gut following environmental exposure and ingestion, addressing a key gap in risk assessments.
Author(s): Gupta S, Adamou P, Graham DW, Sreekrishnan TR, Ahammad SZ
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Environmental Pollution
Year: 2026
Volume: 404
Print publication date: 01/09/2026
Online publication date: 25/05/2026
Acceptance date: 21/05/2026
ISSN (print): 0269-7491
ISSN (electronic): 1873-6424
Publisher: Elsevier Ltd
URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2026.128409
DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2026.128409
PubMed id: 42190833
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