Dynamics of the antibiotic resistome in agricultural soils amended with different sources of animal manures over three consecutive years

Abstract

The application of animal manure is generally considered an important transmission pathway for antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in soil. Nevertheless, the fate of ARGs in soil where manure from different sources has been repeatedly implemented is not fully understood. Thus, the succession of ARGs and bacterial communities following the repeated application of three types of animal manures (pig, chicken, and cow manure) to agricultural soil were investigated using Illumina sequencing analysis and high-throughput qPCR. Results showed that manure application remarkably increased the abundance of soil ARGs by increasing the enrichment of indigenous ARGs and introducing extrinsic ARGs. There were no prominent differences in the abundance or diversity of ARGs among the three different manured soils. The abundance and diversity of ARGs in manured soils increased over three consecutive years. Additionally, the abundance of mobile gene elements (MGEs) and bacteria were positively correlated with ARGs, while the changes in the ARG profiles were dramatically associated with the MGEs and bacterial communities. These findings imply that repeated manure application may facilitate to the accumulation and persistence of the soil resistome by regulation of the bacterial community and horizontal gene transfer, providing better insights into the temporal dynamics of soil ARGs in agro-ecosystems.

Keywords: Antibiotic resistance genes; Bacterial community; Manure application; Mobile genetic elements; Soil resistome.