Phytoremediation Systems as Tools to Mitigate Aquatic Resistomes: Applications, Performance and Biotechnological Perspectives
Rafael Shinji Akiyama Kitamura, André Assalin Alvarenga, Cauê Sprocatti Baldani, Guilherme de Andrade Braz Fronchetti, João Vitor Mota Chiaratti, Matheus Henrique da Silva, Rhai Thimoteo Alves Dias, Joana Rosar CorbelliniAbstract:
Aquatic environments receiving municipal, hospital, or agricultural wastewater are now recognized as major sites for the persistence and spread of antimicrobial resistance. These systems harbor a diverse array of resistance genes, resistant microorganisms, and mobile genetic elements. Standard wastewater treatment does not always remove these elements, fueling ongoing interest in environmentally sustainable alternatives. This review summarizes experimental research on phytoremediation and constructed wetlands to reduce aquatic resistomes, with attention to the removal of antibiotics, resistance genes, resistant microbes, and markers of genetic mobility in wastewaterimpacted water. An integrative literature review was conducted using PubMed and Scopus, focusing on studies published in the last ten years. The search and screening process was organized using PRISMA-inspired reporting principles to improve transparency, but the manuscript was not designed as a formal systematic review or meta-analysis. Information was collected on wetland configuration, plant types, wastewater characteristics, resistance indicators, analytical techniques, and removal efficiencies when explicitly reported. Because the studies differed in design, scale, endpoints, analytical methods, and operational conditions, removal efficiencies were summarized descriptively rather than pooled quantitatively. Most studies examined subsurface or surface-flow wetlands treating municipal or hospital wastewater, using plants such as Phragmites australis, Typha spp., Pontederia crassipes, Salvinia spp., and Lemna spp. Genes such as sul, tet, bla, and intI1 were frequently targeted, and removal success depended on factors including wetland structure, substrate, water flow, and redox status. Main removal processes included microbial activity in the rhizosphere, biofilm-mediated transformation, adsorption to wetland materials, and shifts in microbial communities. In summary, phytoremediation and constructed wetlands are promising methods for limiting the environmental dissemination of antimicrobial resistance. However, further long-term research and integrated monitoring across antibiotics, ARGs, ARB, MGEs, and whole-resistome indicators are needed as part of a One Health approach.