The emergence and spread of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) have become a serious issue in global agricultural production. However, understanding how these ARGs spread across different spatial scales, especially when exposed to both pesticides and antibiotics, has remained a challenge. Here, metagenomic assembly and binning methodologies were used to determine the spread pathway of ARGs in the soil-lettuce system under individual and combined exposure of fungicides (carbendazim and pyraclostrobin) and antibiotics (chlortetracycline and ciprofloxacin). These agrochemicals not only facilitated the spread of ARGs from soil to lettuce but also significantly elevated the risk of developing multi-antibiotic resistance among bacteria, especially to some antibiotic types (i.e. sulfonamide, aminoglycoside, quinolone, and tetracycline). ARGs could be migrated through distinct pathways, including both vertical and horizontal gene transfer, with plasmids playing a crucial role in facilitating the horizontal gene transfer. These transfer pathways have enabled key pathogenic bacteria belonging to the genera Acinetobacter, Pseudomonas, and Pantoea to acquire resistance and remain recalcitrant, posing the potential risk to crop health and food safety. In summary, our findings highlighted that fungicide and antibiotic could drive upward migration of ARGs in the soil-lettuce system and reduced the quality safety of agricultural products.

中文翻译：

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杀菌剂、抗生素和抗性组在土壤-生菜系统中的迁移


抗生素耐药基因 （ARG） 的出现和传播已成为全球农业生产中的一个严重问题。然而，了解这些 ARG 如何在不同的空间尺度上传播，尤其是在同时暴露于杀虫剂和抗生素时，仍然是一个挑战。在这里，宏基因组组装和分箱方法用于确定在杀菌剂（多菌灵和吡唑醚菌酯）和抗生素（金四环素和环丙沙星）的单独和联合暴露下 ARGs 在土壤-生菜系统中的传播途径。这些农用化学品不仅促进了 ARGs 从土壤传播到生菜，而且还显着提高了细菌产生多种抗生素耐药性的风险，尤其是对某些抗生素类型（即磺胺类、氨基糖苷类、喹诺酮类和四环素）。ARGs 可以通过不同的途径迁移，包括垂直和水平基因转移，其中质粒在促进水平基因转移中起着至关重要的作用。这些转移途径使属于不动杆菌属、假单胞菌属和 Pantoea 属的关键病原菌获得耐药性并保持顽固性，对作物健康和食品安全构成潜在风险。综上所述，我们的研究结果强调，杀菌剂和抗生素可以驱动 ARGs 在土壤-生菜系统中向上迁移，降低农产品的质量安全。