Betaproteobacteria include some of the most abundant and ubiquitous bacterial genera that can be found in drinking water, including mineral water. The combination of physiology and ecology traits place some Betaproteobacteria in the list of potential, yet sometimes neglected, opportunistic pathogens that can be transmitted by water or aqueous solutions. Indeed, some drinking water Betaproteobacteria with intrinsic and sometimes acquired antibiotic resistance, harbouring virulence factors and often found in biofilm structures, can persist after water disinfection and reach the consumer. This literature review summarises and discusses the current knowledge about the occurrence and implications of Betaproteobacteria in drinking water. Although the sparse knowledge on the ecology and physiology of Betaproteobacteria thriving in tap or bottled natural mineral/spring drinking water (DW) is an evidence of this review, it is demonstrated that DW holds a high diversity of Betaproteobacteria, whose presence may not be innocuous. Frequently belonging to genera also found in humans, DW Betaproteobacteria are ubiquitous in different habitats, have the potential to resist antibiotics either due to intrinsic or acquired mechanisms, and hold different virulence factors. The combination of these factors places DW Betaproteobacteria in the list of candidates of emerging opportunistic pathogens. Improved bacterial identification of clinical isolates associated with opportunistic infections and additional genomic and physiological studies may contribute to elucidate the potential impact of these bacteria.

Betaproteobacteria包括饮用水（包括矿泉水）中发现的一些最丰富和普遍存在的细菌属。生理学和生态学特征的结合将一些β变形细菌置于可以通过水或水溶液传播的潜在但有时被忽略的机会病原体列表中。确实，一些饮用水内源性，有时具有后天抗药性的细菌，具有毒力因子，经常在生物膜结构中发现，它们具有内在性，有时具有抗药性，它们在水消毒后仍能持续存在并到达消费者手中。这篇文献综述总结并讨论了关于β-变形细菌的发生及其影响的当前知识。在饮用水中。尽管对自来水或瓶装天然矿泉水/瓶装饮用水（DW）中兴旺的Betaproteobacteria的生态学和生理学的了解很少，这是本评论的证据，但事实证明DW拥有高度多样性的Betaproteobacteria，其存在可能并非无害。DW Betaproteobacteria经常属于人类的属，在不同的生境中普遍存在，由于内在或后天的机制而具有抗抗生素的潜力，并具有不同的毒力因子。这些因素的结合使DW Betaproteobacteria在新兴机会病原体候选者列表中。与机会感染有关的临床分离株的细菌鉴定得到改善，并进行了更多的基因组和生理学研究，可能有助于阐明这些细菌的潜在影响。