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Microbial ecology of antibiotic resistance genes: a one health perspective
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This review pulls together existing research showing that antibiotic-resistant genes are spreading through soil, water, landfills, and even melting permafrost, not just from hospitals, but from everyday environments like farm soil and plastic pollution in waterways, where bacteria trade resistance traits with each other. This matters because it means fighting antibiotic resistance requires looking beyond doctors' offices to how we manage farming, waste, and pollution worldwide, especially in lower-income countries where tracking this problem is harder due to limited resources.
The environmental resistome is a dynamic collection of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) that exist in both untouched and human-altered ecosystems, with important implications for worldwide antimicrobial resistance. This review traces the evolutionary development of the resistome, highlighting its origins from ancient microbial defences in permafrost and remote areas detected through metagenomics of β-lactamases and efflux systems that predate clinical antibiotic use. It also discusses how horizontal gene transfer (HGT) drives its spread today and mobile genetic elements (MGEs) during ecological competition and natural antibiotic production. Major reservoirs include soil microbiomes (e.g., fungicide-enriched rhizospheres increasing tetW and sul1 by 2—5 times through HGT), aquatic environments (e.g., microplastic biofilms containing bla TEM and mcr-1 in Pseudomonas groups), extreme habitats (e.g., thawing permafrost releasing blaNDM precursors), and human-related sites (e.g., landfills with 324 ARG subtypes), all contributing to the transfer of ARGs to pathogenic microbes. Mechanistic details show how specific taxa adapt, including RND efflux pumps in Proteobacteria, enzymes like metallo-β-lactamases that inactivate β-lactam antibiotics, mutations in ribosomal targets, and CRISPR-Cas systems that act as gatekeepers (e.g., 20–30% plasmid targeting in Lactobacillus, 90–100% conjugation block in Staphylococcus). Advances in long-read sequencing, artificial intelligence (AI) tools such as DeepARG, and qPCR/ddPCR now enable detailed mapping of ARG dynamics while identifying gaps in data from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), the need for standardisation, and integration with microbial ecology beyond previous pollution-focused or roadmap-based reviews. Using a One Health approach, this review advocates for predictive modelling and resilient community strategies to limit ARG spread across food, water, and healthcare environments, opening new opportunities for fair and effective global AMR control.
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The Role of the Environment (Water, Air, Soil) in the Emergence and Dissemination of Antimicrobial Resistance: A One Health Perspective
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This review examines how water, soil, and air act as reservoirs for antibiotic-resistant bacteria, with microplastics highlighted as one of several agents that help spread drug-resistant genes across environments. The findings matter for human health because microplastics can carry antibiotic-resistant bacteria from wastewater and agricultural runoff into water supplies and food systems.
Antibiotic Resistance Genes in Food Animal Production: Environmental Implications and One Health Challenges
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This review examines how antibiotic use in livestock and aquaculture contributes to the spread of antimicrobial resistance genes across the human-animal-environment interface. Researchers found that a substantial proportion of resistance genes detected in farm environments are shared with those found in human clinical settings. The study emphasizes the need for a One Health approach to surveillance and highlights the role of environmental reservoirs, including those contaminated with microplastics, in disseminating resistance.
The interplay between antimicrobial resistance genes and emerging contaminants in wastewater treatment plants: Key players in One Health
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Researchers reviewed how wastewater treatment plants interact with antibiotic-resistant bacteria and emerging contaminants including microplastics, finding that microplastics and heavy metals help antibiotic resistance genes spread through microbial communities. This makes treatment plants hotspots for creating harder-to-treat bacterial strains, posing a broad public health risk that connects environmental pollution to human medicine.
Soil to host environmental determinants fueling horizontal gene transfer and global AMR dissemination
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Bacteria can swap antibiotic-resistance genes with each other, and this review pulls together research showing that everyday pollutants—like antibiotic residues in water, heavy metals, farm chemicals, and even microplastics—make this gene-swapping happen more often. That matters because it means environmental pollution isn't just an ecological problem; it's actively helping create more drug-resistant "superbugs" that can eventually infect people, making common infections harder to treat with existing antibiotics.
Antibiotic sorption onto MPs in terrestrial environment: a critical review of the transport, bioaccumulation, ecotoxicological effects and prospects
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This review examines how microplastics in soil absorb and transport antibiotics, creating complex pollutants that can spread antibiotic resistance genes through the environment. When antibiotic-carrying microplastics are taken up by plants or soil organisms, the resistance genes can eventually reach humans through the food chain. The authors highlight the need for better strategies to reduce microplastic contamination in soil to help slow the growing crisis of antibiotic resistance.
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