Study of the plastisphere of grenhouse plastic waste in the largest greenhouse area in Europe
This study studied the resistome (ARGs and MGEs) and bacterial diversity in agricultural plastic waste from the largest greenhouse area in Europe and disseminated in nearby areas. The results indicated that this type of plastic waste could act as a reservoir and have a role in the environmental spread of ARGs and MGEs across environments. A majority of zOTU-ARG and zOTU-MGE identified in plastics were exclusive to them. On top of that, ARG-MGE correlations were identified in plastic samples, with a significant percentage being shared with soil ARG-MGE correlations and thus could be indicative of MGEs potentially acting in the transmission of ARGs between soil and plastics. To our knowledge, this is the first time that a core resistome and core MGE set could be determined in field plastic samples, some of the identified ARGs were of the highest risk to human health granting resistance to different antibiotics which is of global interest given the increased antibiotic resistance among humans