Article ? AI-assigned paper type based on the abstract. Classification may not be perfect — flag errors using the feedback button. Tier 2 ? Original research — experimental, observational, or case-control study. Direct primary evidence. Marine & Wildlife Sign in to save

Plastics in the marine environment are reservoirs for antibiotic and metal resistance genes

Environment International 2018 448 citations ? Citation count from OpenAlex, updated daily. May differ slightly from the publisher's own count. Score: 50 ? 0–100 AI score estimating relevance to the microplastics field. Papers below 30 are filtered from public browse.

Wenjuan Song, Yuyi Yang Yuyi Yang Yuyi Yang Yuyi Yang Wenjuan Song, Guihua Liu, Wenzhi Liu, Yuyi Yang Zan Li, Zan Li, Wenzhi Liu, Wenzhi Liu, Hui Lin, Yuyi Yang Wenzhi Liu, Hui Lin, Hui Lin, Hui Lin, Hui Lin, Wenjuan Song, Wenjuan Song, Zan Li, Guihua Liu, Wenjuan Song, Wenjuan Song, Yuyi Yang Chen Ye, Chen Ye, Hui Lin, Hui Lin, Wenzhi Liu, Wenzhi Liu, Yuyi Yang Wenzhi Liu, Yuyi Yang Wenzhi Liu, Yuyi Yang Wenzhi Liu, Hui Lin, Yuyi Yang Yuyi Yang Hui Lin, Hui Lin, Yuyi Yang Wenzhi Liu, Hui Lin, Yuyi Yang Chen Ye, Yuyi Yang Hui Lin, Yuyi Yang Hui Lin, Yuyi Yang Yuyi Yang Wenzhi Liu, Wenzhi Liu, Yuyi Yang Yuyi Yang Yuyi Yang Yuyi Yang Yuyi Yang Yuyi Yang Yuyi Yang Yuyi Yang Yuyi Yang Yuyi Yang Yuyi Yang Hui Lin, Hui Lin, Hui Lin, Hui Lin, Hui Lin, Hui Lin, Zan Li, Zan Li, Zan Li, Wenzhi Liu, Yuyi Yang Yuyi Yang Hui Lin, Wenzhi Liu, Yuyi Yang Hui Lin, Yuyi Yang Wenzhi Liu, Wenzhi Liu, Hui Lin, Hui Lin, Hui Lin, Zan Li, Yuyi Yang Hui Lin, Zan Li, Yuyi Yang Yuyi Yang Hui Lin, Zan Li, Hui Lin, Yuyi Yang

Summary

Metagenomic analysis of microbial communities on plastic particles from the North Pacific Gyre revealed high abundances of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and metal resistance genes (MRGs) compared to surrounding seawater. The study demonstrates that ocean plastic debris functions as a reservoir and potential long-range vector for resistance genes, posing a global health concern.

Study Type Environmental

Plastics have been accumulated offshore and in the deep oceans at an unprecedented scale. Microbial communities have colonized the plastisphere, which has become a reservoir for both antibiotic and metal resistance genes (ARGs and MRGs). This is the first analysis of the diversity, abundance, and co-occurrence of ARGs and MRGs, and their relationships within the microbial community, using metagenomic data of plastic particles observed in the North Pacific Gyre obtained from the National Centre for Biotechnology Information Sequence Read Archive database. The abundance of ARGs and MRGs in microbial communities on the plastics were in the ranges 7.07 × 10-1.21 × 10 and 5.51 × 10-4.82 × 10 copies per 16S rRNA, respectively. Both the Shannon-Wiener indices and richness of ARGs and MRGs in plastics microbiota were significantly greater than those of ARGs and MRGs in seawater microbiota in the North Pacific Gyre via one-way analysis of variance. Multidrug resistance genes and multi-metal resistance genes were the main classes of genes detected in plastic microbiota. There were no significant differences in the abundance or diversity of ARGs and MRGs between macroplastics biota and microplastics biota, indicating that particle size had no effect on resistance genes. Procrustes analysis suggested that microbial community composition was the determining factor of the ARG profile but not for MRG. Some ARGs and MRGs had a higher incidence of non-random co-occurrence, suggesting that the co-effects of selection for antibiotic or metal resistance are important factors influencing the resistome of the microbiota on the plastic particles.

Read via DOI PubMed Download PDF

Share this paper

Post Share Share Pin Email