title: Antibiotic resistome and its association with bacterial communities during sewage sludge composting.
abstract: Composting is widely used for recycling of urban sewage sludge to improve soil properties, which represents a potential pathway of spreading antibiotic resistant bacteria and genes to soils. However, the dynamics of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and the underlying mechanisms during sewage sludge composting were not fully explored. Here, we used high-throughput quantitative PCR and 16S rRNA gene based illumina sequencing to investigate the dynamics of ARGs and bacterial communities during a lab-scale in-vessel composting of sewage sludge. A total of 156 unique ARGs and mobile genetic elements (MGEs) were detected encoding resistance to almost all major classes of antibiotics. ARGs were detected with significantly increased abundance and diversity, and distinct patterns, and were enriched during composting. Marked shifts in bacterial community structures and compositions were observed during composting, with Actinobacteria being the dominant phylum at the late phase of composting. The large proportion of Actinobacteria may partially explain the increase of ARGs during composting. ARGs patterns were significantly correlated with bacterial community structures, suggesting that the dynamic of ARGs was strongly affected by bacterial phylogenetic compositions during composting. These results imply that direct application of sewage sludge compost on field may lead to the spread of abundant ARGs in soils.
authors.affiliation: †Key Lab of Urban Environment and Health, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1799 Jimei Road, Xiamen 361021, China.
authors.forename: Jian-Qiang
authors.initials: JQ
authors.lastname: Su
authors.affiliation: †Key Lab of Urban Environment and Health, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1799 Jimei Road, Xiamen 361021, China.|‡University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
authors.forename: Bei
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.affiliation: †Key Lab of Urban Environment and Health, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1799 Jimei Road, Xiamen 361021, China.|‡University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
authors.forename: Wei-Ying
authors.initials: WY
authors.lastname: Ou-Yang
authors.affiliation: †Key Lab of Urban Environment and Health, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1799 Jimei Road, Xiamen 361021, China.
authors.forename: Fu-Yi
authors.initials: FY
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: †Key Lab of Urban Environment and Health, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1799 Jimei Road, Xiamen 361021, China.
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: †Key Lab of Urban Environment and Health, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1799 Jimei Road, Xiamen 361021, China.|‡University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
authors.forename: Hui-Juan
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: †Key Lab of Urban Environment and Health, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1799 Jimei Road, Xiamen 361021, China.
authors.forename: Yong-Guan
authors.initials: YG
authors.lastname: Zhu
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D001419:Bacteria / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics*; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements / Q000235:genetics; D004352:Drug Resistance, Microbial / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics*; D018628:Gene Dosage; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D014644:Genetic Variation; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D012722:Sewage / Q000382:microbiology*; D012987:Soil
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; D012722:Sewage; D012987:Soil