Metagenomic and network analysis reveal wide distribution and co-occurrence of environmental antibiotic resistance genes

A metagenomic approach and network analysis was used to investigate the wide-spectrum profiles of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and their co-occurrence patterns in 50 samples from 10 typical environments. In total, 260 ARG subtypes belonging to 18 ARG types were detected with an abundance range of 5.4 × 10(-6)-2.2 × 10(-1) copy of ARG per copy of 16S-rRNA gene. The trend of the total ARG abundances in environments matched well with the levels of anthropogenic impacts on these environments. From the less impacted environments to the seriously impacted environments, the total ARG abundances increased up to three orders of magnitude, that is, from 3.2 × 10(-3) to 3.1 × 10(0) copy of ARG per copy of 16S-rRNA…

• UO
  University of Hong Kong