Diversity and Abundance of Antibiotic Resistance Genes in Various Types of Food Using SmartChip HT-qPCR
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Abstract:
Antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), recognized as emerging environmental contaminants that potentially threaten environments and human health, have been widely identified in various environments. However, the prevalence of ARGs in various types of food is not well understood. In this study, the diversity and abundance of ARGs and mobile genetic elements (MGEs) from four types of food, including aquatic products, fermented food, meat, and vegetables, were quantitatively detected using SmartChip high-throughput quantitative real-time PCR (HT-qPCR). A total of 234 ARG subtypes belonging to 9 ARG types were detected in all 15 samples. Among them, 79 ARG subtypes were common in all samples, and 51 ARG subtypes were detected in specific samples. More ARG types were found in aquatic products and meat (the highest abundance being up to 3.6 copies/16S rRNA gene). Additionally, ten MGEs were detected; among these, integrase gene intI-1(clinic) and transposase gene tnpA-01 were both detected in all samples. The analysis of resistance mechanisms of ARGs suggests that antibiotic deactivation, efflux pump, and cellular protection formed the main resistance mechanisms. The contribution of ARGs to resistance was as follows: antibiotic deactivation > efflux pump > cellular protection. The findings of this study will enhance our understanding of the occurrence of ARGs and MGEs in different types of food and provide important information for an integrative risk assessment of food.
