posted on 2024-12-08, 21:03authored byZhe-Lun Liu, Yi-Fei Wang, Dong Zhu, Marcos Quintela-baluja, David W. Graham, Yong-Guan Zhu, Min Qiao
The rising spread of antibiotic resistance
is a global
concern,
but the pathways of dissemination within soil ecosystems remain poorly
understood. Here, we quantified the occurrence of antibiotic resistance
genes (ARGs) in gut microbiomes of soil collembolans (Folsomia
candida) under pesticide stress (zinc thiazole, ZT) and analyzed
the trophic transfer of ARGs to the microbiomes of predatory mites
(Hypoaspis aculeifer), natural predators of collembolans.
High throughput quantitative PCR was used to quantify ARGs, whereas
gut microbiomes of collembolans and mites were characterized using
16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing, and potential pathogens were identified.
Our results revealed that ZT exposure significantly elevated the abundance
of ARGs (e.g., AAC(6’)-Ir) in soil collembolan
microbiomes. With the increase of ARGs in prey collembolan microbiomes,
an increase of ARGs in predatory mite microbiomes was observed through
trophic transfer. Mobile genetic elements (MGEs) significantly contribute
to the transmission of ARGs within this food chain. Additionally,
co-occurrence analysis indicated a strong association between gut
resistomes and pathogens, such as Brevundimonas diminuta, in the collembolans and predatory mites. Overall, our study provides
evidence for the dissemination of ARGs through the collembolan-predatory
mite food chain following pesticide exposure, which is important for
understanding the broader dynamics of antibiotic resistance spreading
in soil ecosystems.