title: Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) enriching antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in the soils.
abstract: The prevalence of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in modern environment raises an emerging global health concern. In this study, soil samples were collected from three sites in petrochemical plant that represented different pollution levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Metagenomic profiling of these soils demonstrated that ARGs in the PAHs-contaminated soils were approximately 15 times more abundant than those in the less-contaminated ones, with Proteobacterial being the preponderant phylum. Resistance profile of ARGs in the PAHs-polluted soils was characterized by the dominance of efflux pump-encoding ARGs associated with aromatic antibiotics (e.g., fluoroquinolones and acriflavine) that accounted for more than 70% of the total ARGs, which was significantly different from representative sources of ARG pollution due to wide use of antibiotics. Most of ARGs enriched in the PAHs-contaminated soils were not carried by plasmids, indicating the low possibilities of them being transferred between bacteria. Significant correlation was observed between the total abundance of ARGs and that of Proteobacteria in the soils. Proteobacteria selected by PAHs led to simultaneously enriching of ARGs carried by them in the soils. Our results suggested that PAHs could serve as one of selective stresses for greatly enriching of ARGs in the human-impacted environment.
authors.affiliation: South China Sea Resource Exploitation and Protection Collaborative Innovation Center, School of Marine Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China; Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Marine Resources and Coastal Engineering, School of Marine Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China.
authors.forename: Baowei
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: South China Sea Resource Exploitation and Protection Collaborative Innovation Center, School of Marine Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China; Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Marine Resources and Coastal Engineering, School of Marine Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China.
authors.forename: Rong
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: South China Sea Resource Exploitation and Protection Collaborative Innovation Center, School of Marine Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China; Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Marine Resources and Coastal Engineering, School of Marine Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China.
authors.forename: Ke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.affiliation: Zhujiang Hospital of Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510282, China.
authors.forename: Enzhong
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Zhujiang Hospital of Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510282, China.
authors.forename: Lan
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: South China Sea Resource Exploitation and Protection Collaborative Innovation Center, School of Marine Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China; Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Marine Resources and Coastal Engineering, School of Marine Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China.
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: MOE Key Laboratory of Aquatic Product Safety, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China.
authors.forename: Sha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sha
authors.affiliation: MOE Key Laboratory of Aquatic Product Safety, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China.
authors.forename: Jianan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhong
authors.affiliation: MOE Key Laboratory of Aquatic Product Safety, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: South China Sea Resource Exploitation and Protection Collaborative Innovation Center, School of Marine Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China; Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Marine Resources and Coastal Engineering, School of Marine Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China.
authors.forename: Lihua
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: South China Sea Resource Exploitation and Protection Collaborative Innovation Center, School of Marine Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China; Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Marine Resources and Coastal Engineering, School of Marine Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China.
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: South China Sea Resource Exploitation and Protection Collaborative Innovation Center, School of Marine Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China; Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Marine Resources and Coastal Engineering, School of Marine Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China.
authors.forename: Xiaowei
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: South China Sea Resource Exploitation and Protection Collaborative Innovation Center, School of Marine Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China; Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Marine Resources and Coastal Engineering, School of Marine Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China.
authors.forename: Shichun
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zou
authors.affiliation: MOE Key Laboratory of Aquatic Product Safety, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China. Electronic address: cesltg@mail.sysu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Tiangang
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Luan
mesh_terms: D001419:Bacteria / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics*; D004352:Drug Resistance, Microbial / Q000235:genetics*; D005798:Genes, Bacterial / Q000187:drug effects; D056186:Metagenomics; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons; D012987:Soil / Q000737:chemistry*; D012988:Soil Microbiology; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000032:analysis; D013312:Stress, Physiological
chemical_list: D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons; D012987:Soil; D012989:Soil Pollutants
keywords: Antibiotic resistance genes; Enrichment; Metagenomics; Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; Soils