The Innovation Team of Soil-Plant Interactions of the Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning (IARRP) of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) cooperated with several domestic academic institutions to analyze the distribution and co-occurrence patterns of antibiotic resistance genes in black soils in agricultural area of Northeast China, with the research results being published in the Journal of Environmental Management.

Black soil is known as the "giant panda in cultivated land". As an important natural resource, it plays an important role in ensuring national food security. For a long time, people have paid increased attention to the impacts of traditional pollutants, such as heavy metals, pesticides, and chemical fertilizers, on soil quality and ecological environment of black soil. However, simultaneously observing the environmental accumulation and distribution of emerging pollutants, such as antibiotics and antibiotic resistance genes, as well as the co-occurrence patterns with other environmental factors, are still unknown.

The study randomly collected black soil samples from nine corn-producing areas in Northeast China, and comprehensively analyzed the distribution characteristics and co-occurrence patterns of antibiotic resistance genes in the samples.

The results of the study demonstrated that there were different levels of antibiotic resistance pollution in the soil, and antibiotic resistance genes showed the characteristics of high diversity and low abundance; a total of 136 unique genes were detected, but the total relative abundance of antibiotic resistance genes was much lower than the reported contaminated soil environments in other parts of China. This is related to the fact that black soil is a nutrient-rich environment with less irrigation and fertilizers input, the soil is well protected, and the pollution level is relatively low.

The study also found that there is a relative lack of connections and hubs between antibiotic resistance genes, and the degree of interaction and disperal is limited. The generation and transmission of antibiotic resistance genes are jointly affected by biotic and abiotic factors.

This study is of great significance to comprehensively evaluate the soil quality of black soil in Northeast China, alleviate the potential threat of antibiotic resistance genes in regional agricultural soils, and ensure the safety of agricultural ecosystems.

The research was jointly funded by the International Science and Technology Innovation Program of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences and the National Natural Science Foundation of China.

Paper link: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.115640