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Identifying sources of antibiotic resistance genes in the environment using the microbial Find, Inform, and Test framework
Summary
Researchers used a microbial tracking framework to identify sources of antibiotic resistance genes in the environment, confirming that bovine operations and land-applied waste contribute to offsite migration of resistant microorganisms. The study modeled how far these resistance genes can spread overland and downstream from their sources. The findings support the need for targeted monitoring of antibiotic resistance around agricultural waste sources to reduce exposure risks.
Our study corroborates previous evidence of offsite migration of microbial pollution from bovine sources and newly suggests offsite migration from land-applied waste. With FIT, we estimated the distance-based influence range overland and downstream around sources to model the impact these sources may have on AMR at unsampled sites. This modeling supports targeted monitoring of AMR from sources for future exposure and risk mitigation efforts.
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