Metagenomic analysis of antibiotic resistance genes in coastal industrial mariculture systems

• DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2018.01.035
• Publication Date: 2018-01-09T20:23:52Z
• Authors: Jian-Hua Wang; Jian Lu; Yu-Xuan Zhang; Jun Wu; Yongming Luo; Hao Liu
• Keywords: Bacteria; Genes, Bacterial; Animals; Drug Resistance, Microbial; Metagenomics; 14. Life underwater; 01 natural sciences; 6. Clean water; Anti-Bacterial Agents; 0105 earth and related environmental sciences

The overuse of antibiotics has posed a propagation of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in aquaculture systems. This study firstly explored the ARGs profiles of the typical mariculture farms including conventional and recirculating systems using metagenomics approach. Fifty ARGs subtypes belonging to 21 ARGs types were identified, showing the wide-spectrum profiles of ARGs in the coastal industrial mariculture systems. ARGs with multiple antibiotics resistance have emerged in the mariculure systems. The co-occurrence pattern between ARGs and microbial taxa showed that Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes were potential dominant hosts of ARGs in the industrial mariculture systems. Typical nitrifying bacteria such as Nitrospinae in mariculture systems also carried with some resistance genes. Relative abundance of ARGs in fish ponds and wastewater treatment units was relatively high. The investigation showed that industrial mariculture systems were important ARGs reservoirs in coastal area, indicating the critical role of recirculating systems in the terms of ARGs pollution control.