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Occurrence of sulfonamide-, tetracycline-, plasmid-mediated quinolone- and macrolide-resistance genes in livestock feedlots in Northern China

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Abstract

Antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in livestock feedlots deserve attention because they are prone to transfer to human pathogens and thus pose threats to human health. In this study, the occurrence of 21 ARGs, including tetracycline (tet)-, sulfonamide (sul)-, plasmid-mediated quinolone (PMQR)- and macrolide-resistance (erm) genes were investigated in feces and adjacent soils from chicken, swine, and cattle feedlots in Northern China. PMQR and sul ARGs were the most prevalent and account for over 90.0 % of the total ARGs in fecal samples. Specifically, PMQR genes were the most prevalent, accounting for 59.6 % of the total ARGs, followed by sul ARGs (34.2 %). The percentage of tet ARGs was 3.4 %, and erm ARGs accounted for only 1.9 %. Prevalence of PMQR and sul ARGs was also found in swine and cattle feces. The overall trend of ARG concentrations in feces of different feeding animals was chicken > swine > beef cattle in the studied area. In soils, sul ARGs had the highest concentration and account for 71.1 to 80.2 % of the total ARGs, which is possibly due to the widely distributed molecular carriers (i.e., class one integrons), facilitating sul ARG propagation. Overall, this study provides integrated profiles of various types of ARGs in livestock feedlots and thus provides a reference for the management of antibiotic use in livestock farming.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 31270542, 21037002, and 21277075), the State Environmental Protection Commonweal Project (201309031), and the Ministry of Education Program for New Century Excellent Talents (NCET-11-0254). The authors owe sincere appreciation to Dr. Fengxia Yang, Dr. Shuai Yu, and Dr. Kangxin He for their kind instructions during the experiments. Special thanks to Dr. Su Chen for providing some of the manure and soil samples.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Pollution Processes and Environmental Criteria (Ministry of Education), College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nankai University, No.94, Weijin Road, Tianjin, 300071, China

    Quanhua Mu, Jin Li, Yingxue Sun, Qing Wang & Yi Luo

  2. Collage of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072, China

    Daqing Mao

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  1. Quanhua Mu
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  2. Jin Li
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  3. Yingxue Sun
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  4. Daqing Mao
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  5. Qing Wang
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  6. Yi Luo
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Correspondence to Daqing Mao or Yi Luo.

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Responsible editor: Cinta Porte

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Mu, Q., Li, J., Sun, Y. et al. Occurrence of sulfonamide-, tetracycline-, plasmid-mediated quinolone- and macrolide-resistance genes in livestock feedlots in Northern China. Environ Sci Pollut Res 22, 6932–6940 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-014-3905-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-014-3905-5

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