Exploring the co-occurrence of antibiotic, metal, and biocide resistance genes in the urban agricultural environment

Urban Farm DB summary

Metagenomic analysis of total soil DNA from urban vegetable garden soils examined the co-occurrence of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) with resistance genes to other compounds, including heavy metals and biocides. Relative abundance was 2.00-2.90 x 10^-1 copies per 16S rRNA gene for ARGs and 4.22-6.00 x 10^-2 for metal resistance genes (MRGs), with the most abundant ARGs conferring multidrug, vancomycin, bacitracin, fosmidomycin, and macrolide-lincosamide-streptogramin (MLS) resistance, alongside MRGs for copper, arsenic, multiple metals, iron, and chromium, biocide resistance genes (BRGs) for multi-biocide, peroxide, and phenolic compounds, and multi-compound resistance genes (MCRGs) combining biocide-metal, drug-biocide-metal, and drug-biocide resistance. Multidrug resistance genes (including mexF, mexW), the MLS gene macB, and the MCRG ruvB showed the strongest correlations with other resistance genes, demonstrating extensive co-occurrence of ARGs, MRGs, BRGs, and MCRGs in urban agricultural environments and suggesting that soil contaminants have potential as co-selection agents for antibiotic resistance.