Enrichment of high-risk antibiotic resistance genes on microplastics in freshwater environments: A meta-analysis
Abstract
Microplastics (MPs) and their associated biofilms, collectively known as the plastisphere, are emerging as environmental vectors of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs). However, whether MPs preferentially retain health-relevant resistance genes remains unclear. This study conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis comparing ARG profiles on MPs and in surrounding freshwater environments. The meta-analysis revealed significant ARG enrichment in MP biofilms compared to water. Subgroup analyses further revealed that MPs enriched several mobile and enzyme-mediated resistance categories, including fosmidomycin, elfamycin, fosfomycin, β-lactams, aminoglycosides, macrolide-lincosamide-streptogramin, and multidrug resistance. In contrast, several categories were more abundant in freshwater environments, including mupirocin, sulfonamide, aminocoumarin, and trimethoprim. Chromosomal efflux-based mechanisms, such as tetracycline and fluoroquinolone resistance, showed minimal or no enrichment on MPs. At the gene level, both high-risk (Ranks I-II) and lower-risk (Ranks III-IV) ARGs were enriched on MPs relative to the surrounding water. Rank I genes were more frequently detected among enriched ARGs than Rank II genes, suggesting that MP biofilms may harbor diverse clinically relevant resistance determinants. Gene-level synthesis further identified numerous Rank I ARG subtypes across datasets spanning multiple antibiotic classes, indicating that enrichment involved multiple resistance…
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Evidence Hub reads this as a meta-analysis. Its evidence level is 1 of 5 (Highest · pooled evidence). Pooled evidence from several studies sits at the top of the evidence pyramid.
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