ArticleMicrobiome2016
The structure and diversity of human, animal and environmental resistomes.
Article in Microbiome, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 178 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
178 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Systematic review and meta-analysis of integrated studies on antimicrobial resistance genes in Africa-A One Health perspective.Tropical medicine & international health : TM & IH · 2021Pooled it
- Trial
- Age- and diet-driven assembly of the gut antibiotic resistome in humans and food-producing animals.Gut microbes · 2026Review
- Insights into antibiotic resistomes from gut meta-genome-assembled genomes of the free-range chickens.Veterinary and animal science · 2026Article
- Farming practices exert selection pressures on the resistome of natural populations of house mice.Nature communications · 2026Article
- A genomic framework for tracking antibiotic resistance genes: global dissemination ofAntimicrobial agents and chemotherapy · 2026Article
- Age-driven shifts of the camel gut microbiome and resistome in extensively reared dromedary camels.Microbiology spectrum · 2026Article
- Implementation of a high-throughput microfluidic platform for antimicrobial resistance surveillance in swine production systems.Microbial genomics · 2026Article
- Review
- Environmental dissemination of multidrug-resistant Escherichia coli across one health interfaces in Mymensingh, Bangladesh.npj antimicrobials and resistance · 2026Article
- Antibiotic resistance genes in companion animals and humans driven by the gut microbial communities: composition, distribution, and implications.BMC veterinary research · 2026Article
- Investigation of cyanobacteria-hosted antibiotic resistance genes in cyanoHAB-impacted drinking water sources.Environmental science and pollution research international · 2026Article
- Assessing the Ecological Roles of Resistomes within Microbial Communities in Antibiotic-contaminated Ecosystems.Microbial ecology · 2026Review
- Antimicrobial resistance profiling in poultry industry: a culture-independent resistome analysis and risk factor assessment.BMC veterinary research · 2026Article
- Article
- Decoding the biotic networks and functional potential of seamount sediments in the Arabian sea.Molecular biology reports · 2026Article
- Antibiotic resistance gradient along a large Scandinavian river influenced by wastewater treatment plants.FEMS microbiology ecology · 2026Article
- The Wastewater Resistome: A Shotgun Metagenomics Analysis of Urban Treatment Plants in Sicily.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Metagenomic analysis of the nasopharyngeal microbiomes and resistomes in asthma, COVID-19 infected, and healthy individuals.Frontiers in microbiology · 2026Article
- Gut microbiome profiles of two limestone forest-dwelling langurs show stronger influence of host-associated factors than environment.Frontiers in microbiology · 2026Article
118 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAntibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) are widespread but cause problems only when present in pathogens. Environments where selection and transmission of antibiotic resistance frequently take place are likely to be characterized by high abundance and diversity of horizontally transferable ARGs. Large-scale quantitative data on ARGs is, however, lacking for most types of environments, including humans and animals, as is data on resistance genes to potential co-selective agents, such as biocides and metals. This paucity prevents efficient identification of risk environments.
resultsWe provide a comprehensive characterization of resistance genes, mobile genetic elements (MGEs) and bacterial taxonomic compositions for 864 metagenomes from humans (n = 350), animals (n = 145) and external environments (n = 369), all deeply sequenced using Illumina technology. Environment types showed clear differences in both resistance profiles and bacterial community compositions. Human and animal microbial communities were characterized by limited taxonomic diversity and low abundance and diversity of biocide/metal resistance genes and MGEs but a relatively high abundance of ARGs. In contrast, external environments showed consistently high taxonomic diversity which in turn was linked to high diversity of both biocide/metal resistance genes and MGEs. Water, sediment and soil generally carried low relative abundance and few varieties of known ARGs, whereas wastewater/sludge was on par with the human gut. The environments with the largest relative abundance and/or diversity of ARGs, including genes encoding resistance to last resort antibiotics, were those subjected to industrial antibiotic pollution and a limited set of deeply sequenced air samples from a Beijing smog event.
conclusionsOur study identifies air and antibiotic-polluted environments as under-investigated transmission routes and reservoirs for antibiotic resistance. The high taxonomic and genetic diversity of external environments supports the hypothesis that these also form vast sources of unknown resistance genes, with potential to be transferred to pathogens in the future.
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