The potential of microplastics to carry coexisting pollutants and contribute to combined pollution is a significant health concern. Here we investigate the presence of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in both intracellular ARGs (iARGs) and extracellular ARGs (eARGs) forms, on microplastics collected from the coastal waters of the East China Sea. Our findings revealed that both iARGs and eARGs were enriched on microplastics. Specifically, 6- to 55-fold enrichment of iARGs was found on microplastics, while eARGs were more significantly enriched (5–140 fold). 16s rDNA analysis revealed that microplastics harbored a more diverse microbial community, particularly opportunistic pathogens, compared to surrounding seawater. This contributes to more correlations between bacterial genera and ARGs on microplastics than in sea water. Molecular ecological network analysis indicated that total nitrogen and ammonia were primary determinants of ARG and microbial enrichment on microplastics. This study provides implications for understanding the combined pollution of microplastics and ARGs.

中文翻译：

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海洋微塑料丰富了抗生素耐药基因 （ARG），尤其是细胞外 ARG：东海调查


微塑料可能携带共存污染物并导致综合污染，这是一个重大的健康问题。在这里，我们研究了从东海沿海水域收集的微塑料上细胞内 ARG （iARG） 和细胞外 ARG （eARG） 形式中存在抗生素耐药基因 （ARG）。我们的研究结果表明，iARGs 和 eARGs 都在微塑料上富集。具体来说，在微塑料上发现 iARG 的富集程度为 6 至 55 倍，而 eARG 的富集程度更高 （5-140 倍）。16s rDNA 分析显示，与周围的海水相比，微塑料含有更多样化的微生物群落，尤其是机会性病原体。与海水相比，这有助于微塑料上的细菌属和 ARG 之间的相关性更高。分子生态网络分析表明，总氮和氨是 ARG 和微塑料上微生物富集的主要决定因素。本研究为理解微塑料和 ARG 的组合污染提供了启示。