ArticleMicrobiome2018
A reservoir of 'historical' antibiotic resistance genes in remote pristine Antarctic soils.
Article in Microbiome, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 137 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
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Who cites it
137 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 375 citations in OpenAlex.
- Contributions and Challenges of High Throughput qPCR for Determining Antimicrobial Resistance in the Environment: A Critical Review.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2019Pooled it
- Illuminating Antarctic Microbial Dark Matter:Environment & health (Washington, D.C.) · 2026Article
- Antarctic soil microbiomes encode structurally conserved and phylogenetically diverse beta-lactamases.iMetaOmics · 2026Article
- Computational Genomics for Resistome Characterization: Current Advancements and Future Challenges Under a One Health Perspective.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Widespread horizontal transfer and strong selection enhance microbial adaptation in Antarctic soils.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Vibrio Community Structure Shapes the Diversity of Carbenicillin-Hydrolysing Class A β-Lactamase Circulating in European Coastal Environments.Environmental microbiology · 2026Article
- Depth-resolved transcriptional activity of antibiotic resistance genes in deep permafrost of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.Communications biology · 2026Article
- Soil Resistomes in a Tropical Watershed are Indirectly Structured by Bacterial Community Interactions with Soil Properties.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Dual-platform metagenomic surveillance distinguishes pathogen and resistome hotspots across agricultural and mixed-use watersheds.One health (Amsterdam, Netherlands) · 2026Article
- Antibiotic-induced gut microbiome dysbiosis: risks and strategies for mitigation.The EMBO journal · 2026Review
- Plastic leachates drive conjugative transfer of antibiotic resistance genes.Environmental science and ecotechnology · 2026Article
- Antimicrobial Resistance Genes (ARGs) Monitoring and Gut Microbiota Profiling in Honey Bees from an Intensive Livestock Farming Area in Northwestern Italy.Microorganisms · 2026Article
- Antimicrobial resistance varies with warming in active layer soil and permafrost.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Transmission, Health Risks and Attenuation Strategies of Antibiotic Resistance Genes in Soil-Plant Systems.Environment & health (Washington, D.C.) · 2026Review
- Metagenomic Insights into Antimicrobial Resistance in Small-Scale Poultry and Cattle Farms.Microorganisms · 2026Article
- The expansion of culturable opportunistic pathogens and antibiotic resistance in mouse gut following antibiotic exposure.Microbiology spectrum · 2026Article
- Vertical stratification and functional coupling of antibiotic resistance and carbon metabolism in thermokarst lake sediments.ISME communications · 2026Article
- "Multidrug-Resistant Achromobacter isolated from soil: an emerging pathogen".BMC microbiology · 2025Article
- Geographics and bacterial networks differently shape the acquired and latent global sewage resistomes.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Comparative genomics reveals adaptive traits in novel Antarctic lithic cyanobacteria.BMC genomics · 2025Article
77 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundSoil bacteria naturally produce antibiotics as a competitive mechanism, with a concomitant evolution, and exchange by horizontal gene transfer, of a range of antibiotic resistance mechanisms. Surveys of bacterial resistance elements in edaphic systems have originated primarily from human-impacted environments, with relatively little information from remote and pristine environments, where the resistome may comprise the ancestral gene diversity.
methodsWe used shotgun metagenomics to assess antibiotic resistance gene (ARG) distribution in 17 pristine and remote Antarctic surface soils within the undisturbed Mackay Glacier region. We also interrogated the phylogenetic placement of ARGs compared to environmental ARG sequences and tested for the presence of horizontal gene transfer elements flanking ARGs.
resultsIn total, 177 naturally occurring ARGs were identified, most of which encoded single or multi-drug efflux pumps. Resistance mechanisms for the inactivation of aminoglycosides, chloramphenicol and β-lactam antibiotics were also common. Gram-negative bacteria harboured most ARGs (71%), with fewer genes from Gram-positive Actinobacteria and Bacilli (Firmicutes) (9%), reflecting the taxonomic composition of the soils. Strikingly, the abundance of ARGs per sample had a strong, negative correlation with species richness (r = - 0.49, P < 0.05). This result, coupled with a lack of mobile genetic elements flanking ARGs, suggests that these genes are ancient acquisitions of horizontal transfer events.
conclusionsARGs in these remote and uncontaminated soils most likely represent functional efficient historical genes that have since been vertically inherited over generations. The historical ARGs in these pristine environments carry a strong phylogenetic signal and form a monophyletic group relative to ARGs from other similar environments.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.