Metagenome meta-analysis reveals an increase in the abundance of some multidrug efflux pumps and mobile genetic elements in chemically polluted environments.

ABSTRACT: Many human activities contaminate terrestrial and aquatic environments with numerous chemical pollutants that not only directly alter the environment but also affect microbial communities in ways that are potentially concerning to human health, such as selecting for the spread of antibiotic-resistance genes (ARGs) through horizontal gene transfer. In the present study, metagenomes available in the public domain from polluted (with antibiotics, with petroleum, with metal mining, or with coal-mining effluents) and unpolluted terrestrial and aquatic environments were compared to examine whether pollution has influenced the abundance and composition of ARGs and mobile elements, with specific focus on IS26 and class 1 integrons (intI1). When aggregated together, polluted environments had

SUBMITTER: Subirats J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10617411 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature