A Potential Indicator Gene, tetM, to Assess Contamination by Antibiotic Resistance Genes in Greenhouses in South Korea.

Abstract

Antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) have been emerging as a concerning threat to both environment and public health. The continuous input of manure, irrigation water, and fertilizers increases the abundance of ARGs in agricultural environments. However, current risk assessments have focused on clinical settings, which are not applicable to environmental settings. Therefore, we herein aimed to identify and assess indicator genes to reduce the time and effort required for ARG surveillance. A nationwide ana-lysis of 322 ARGs and 58 mobile genetic elements (MGEs) was performed on 42 greenhouse and 19 control soil samples. The chemical properties and pH of soil were also investigated to characterize differences between greenhouse and control soil samples. The results obtained showed that the abundance of ARGS was significantly higher and ion concentrations were higher in greenhouse samples than in control samples. These results indicate that agricultural activities increased the abundance of ARGs. Furthermore, the abundance of core genes was significantly higher in greenhouse samples than in control samples, and the chemical characteristics of soil significantly differed between these samples. Among the discriminatory genes selected, tetM was identified as an ARG surveillance indicator gene based on its clinical relevance, prevalence in the soil resistome, and relationship with mobile genetic elements. The present results will contribute to the continuous and rapid surveillance of antibiotic resistance dissemination and proliferation in greenhouses in South Korea.