Existing drinking water treatment systems have limited ability to control emerging contaminants such as antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs). Household activated carbon water purifiers (HWPs) are convenient measures to assure drinking water quality. However, ARGs distribution in HWPs has not been reported. Here, ARGs, mobile genetic elements (MGEs) and bacteria communities were profiled in tap water (TW), filter water (FW) and activated carbon (AC) biofilm from six kinds of HWPs after 80 days operation, using metagenomics. Results showed that the bacteria community diversities in FW and AC were higher than those in TW. A total of 88, 116 and 80 ARG subtypes were detected in TW, AC and FW, respectively. The AC structure was an important factor influencing the bacterial communities and ARG profiles in FW. The network analysis revealed the co-occurrence patterns between ARGs and bacteria. SourceTracker analyses showed AC biofilms were important contributors of microbes (29–79%) and ARGs (17–53%) in FW. Moreover, MGEs e.g. pBBta01, pMKMS02 and pMFLV01 plasmids, and ISMysp3 had significant co-occurrence patterns with ARGs in the AC biofilms. This study helps to understand the actual purification effect of HWPs and provides a theoretical reference for the management and control of ARGs pollution in domestic drinking water.

现有的饮用水处理系统控制新兴污染物如抗生素抗性基因（ARG）的能力有限。家用活性炭净水器（HWP）是确保饮用水质量的便捷措施。但是，尚未报告ARG在HWP中的分布。在这里，使用宏基因组学，在操作80天后，对来自六种HWP的自来水（TW），滤水（FW）和活性炭（AC）生物膜中的ARG，移动遗传元件（MGE）和细菌群落进行了分析。结果表明，FW和AC的细菌群落多样性高于TW。在TW，AC和FW中分别检测到88、116和80种ARG亚型。AC结构是影响FW中细菌群落和ARG谱的重要因素。网络分析揭示了ARG和细菌之间的共现模式。SourceTracker分析表明，AC生物膜是FW中微生物（29-79％）和ARGs（17-53％）的重要贡献者。此外，MGE，例如pBBta01，pMKMS02和pMFLV01质粒，以及ISMysp3与AC生物膜中的ARG具有明显的共现模式。该研究有助于了解HWPs的实际净化效果，并为生活饮用水中ARGs污染的管理和控制提供理论参考。