Antibiotic Resistance Gene Detection in Tropical Water Systems Using Three PCR Methods

Three molecular platforms—HT-qPCR, qPCR, and ddPCR—were compared for detecting antibiotic resistance genes in wastewater, river water, and seawater in Thailand. HT-qPCR enabled broad profiling, detecting 325–336 ARGs out of 373 targets, while ddPCR identified a rare target missed by the other methods. The dataset, authored by Thitima Srathongneam and last updated in April 2026, supports a tiered framework for environmental ARG monitoring.

Use Cases

• Benchmarking PCR method sensitivity for environmental DNA based on the comparative analysis of HT-qPCR, qPCR, and ddPCR.
• Profiling the prevalence of aminoglycoside, beta-lactam, and sulfonamide resistance genes in water systems based on the HT-qPCR results.
• Designing cost-effective, multi-tiered monitoring strategies based on the described complementary strengths of the three platforms.
• Quantifying absolute gene copy numbers in complex matrices using the ddPCR calibration method described.

Strengths

• Direct comparison of three established molecular methods (HT-qPCR, qPCR, ddPCR) on the same samples.
• HT-qPCR screened a large panel of 373 target genes, detecting 87.1–90.1% of them.
• Quantitative results from qPCR and ddPCR showed high rank-based concordance across sample matrices.
• Dataset is openly licensed under CC-BY-4.0.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Geographic coverage is limited to water systems in Thailand.

Provenance

Source

figshare

Collection Method

Molecular analysis (HT-qPCR, qPCR, ddPCR) of water samples collected from wastewater, river, and seawater sites.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-22 10:50:58; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Thailand