Increased Transmission of Antibiotic Resistance Occurs in a Soil Food Chain under Pesticide Stress.

Liu, Zhe-Lun; Wang, Yi-Fei; Zhu, Dong; Quintela-Baluja, Marcos; Graham, David W; Zhu, Yong-Guan; Qiao, Min

Abstract

The rising spread of antibiotic resistance is a global concern, but the pathways of dissemination within soil ecosystems remain poorly understood. Here, we quantified the occurrence of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in gut microbiomes of soil collembolans ( ) under pesticide stress (zinc thiazole, ZT) and analyzed the trophic transfer of ARGs to the microbiomes of predatory mites ( ), natural predators of collembolans. High throughput quantitative PCR was used to quantify ARGs, whereas gut microbiomes of collembolans and mites were characterized using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing, and potential pathogens were identified. Our results revealed that ZT exposure significantly elevated the abundance of ARGs (e.g., ) in soil collembolan microbiomes. With the increase of ARGs in prey collembolan microbiomes, an increase of ARGs in predatory mite microbiomes was observed through trophic transfer. Mobile genetic elements (MGEs) significantly contribute to the transmission of ARGs within this food chain. Additionally, co-occurrence analysis indicated a strong association between gut resistomes and pathogens, such as , in the collembolans and predatory mites. Overall, our study provides evidence for the dissemination of ARGs through the collembolan-predatory mite food chain following pesticide exposure, which is important for understanding the broader dynamics of antibiotic resistance spreading in soil ecosystems.

Citation

Liu, Z.-L., Wang, Y.-F., Zhu, D., Quintela-Baluja, M., Graham, D. W., Zhu, Y.-G., & Qiao, M. (2024). Increased Transmission of Antibiotic Resistance Occurs in a Soil Food Chain under Pesticide Stress. Environmental Science and Technology, 58(50), 21989-22001. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.4c07822

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Nov 19, 2024
• Online Publication Date: Dec 8, 2024
• Publication Date: Dec 17, 2024
• Deposit Date: Jan 16, 2025
• Journal: Environmental science & technology
• Print ISSN: 0013-936X
• Electronic ISSN: 1520-5851
• Publisher: American Chemical Society
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 58
• Issue: 50
• Pages: 21989-22001
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.4c07822
• Keywords: predatory mites, Pesticides, antibiotic resistance genes, gut microbiomes, Arthropods - drug effects, RNA, Ribosomal, 16S - genetics, Gastrointestinal Microbiome - drug effects, Drug Resistance, Microbial - genetics, Food Chain, Soil Microbiology, collembolans, Soil - chemistry, Mites, Animals, pathogens, food chain
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/3229939