Removal of antibiotic resistance genes during swine manure composting is strongly impaired by high levels of doxycycline residues

Abstract

Antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) are emerging pollutants that enter the farm and surrounding environment via the manure of antibiotic-treated animals. Pretreatment of livestock manure by composting decreases ARGs abundance, but how antibiotic residues affect ARGs removal efficiency remains poorly understood. Here, we explored the fate of the resistome under different doxycycline residue levels during aerobic swine manure composting. Metagenomic sequencing showed that the presence of high levels of doxycycline generally had a higher abundance of tetracycline ARGs, and their dominant host bacteria of Firmicutes, especially Clostridium and Streptococcus, also had limited elimination in composting under high levels of doxycycline stress. Moreover, high levels of doxycycline impaired the removal of the total ARGs number in finished composts, with a removal rate of 51.74 % compared to 63.70 % and 71.52 % for the control and low-level doxycycline manure, respectively. Horizontal gene transfer and strengthened correlations among the bacterial community fostered ARGs preservation at high doxycycline levels during composting. In addition, ARGs carried by both plasmids and chromosomes, such as multidrug ARGs, showed wide host characteristics and rebound during compost maturation. Compared with chromosomes, a greater variety of ARGs on plasmids suggested that the majority of ARGs were characterized by horizontal mobility during composting, and the cross-host characteristics of ARGs during composting deserve further attention. This study provided deep insight into the fate of ARGs under residual antibiotic stress during manure composting and reminded the associated risk for environmental and public health.

Keywords: Antibiotic resistance genes; Bacterial community; Composting; Doxycycline; Metagenomics; Swine manure.