Structural, functional, resistome and pathogenicity profiling of the Cooum river

The microbial community's structure and functions determine the health, quality, and anthropogenic conditions of the river ecosystems. The presence of Bacteria such as Arcobacter spp, Escherichia spp, and Campylobacters spp, have been shown to reflect the poor water quality of rivers. Apprehension of the microbial community in polluted water bodies is significant because it affects human health and the environment. Culture-independent metagenomic and metatranscriptomic approaches employed in the current study of the Cooum river unraveled the taxonomic classification of diverse microbes, including archaea, bacteria, viruses, and phages. The presence of abundant Macellibacteroides fermentans, Arcobacter bivolvorium, Arcobacter butzleri, Methanothrix soenhngeii, and Bacteroides graminisolvens were noted. Viruses and phages like Caudovirales, Human mastadenovirus C, Siphoviridae, Escherichia phage, Erwinia phage, Synechoccus phage, and Vibrio phage were relatively predominant. Various metabolic pathways like methane, sulfur, and nitrogen metabolism adopted by the microbiome confer dangerous gases. Mechanisms such as secretory systems, signal transduction, Chemotaxis, quorum sensing, transportation of chemicals and ions were significantly enriched. The microbes expressed antimicrobial resistance mechanisms as identified from the genes encoding beta-lactamase enzymes and aminoglycoside phosphotransferase enzymes. Metal resistance mechanisms against copper, tellurium, chromium, and cadmium were plentiful. Presence of human pathogens interactions with Yersinia pestis, Campylobacter jejuni, Escherichia coli, Helicobacter pylori, and Francisella tularensis subsp. tularensis suggested the possibilities of transmission of pathogenesis to humans. The current study is the first to apprehend the detailed microbiome composition of one of the highly polluted rivers in South India. The study elaborated the microbiome's structure, functions, and metabolic potential at a specific site of the polluted river.