摘要

    抗生素抗性病原体对人类健康构成重大威胁。已经描述了几种分散机制，但是微生物和抗生素抗性基因（ARG）通过大气颗粒的运输作为全球传播的途径很少受到关注。这些大气颗粒可以通过降雨或降雪返回地球表面，从而促进ARG的长距离传播。但是，尚未研究新鲜雪中ARGs的多样性和丰度，也没有很好地探讨它们与颗粒物空气污染的潜在相关性。在这里，我们对中国主要城市，北美三个，欧洲一个的44个新鲜雪样本的ARGs进行了表征，其范围从原始到严重的人为影响的生态系统。对ARG和移动遗传元件（MGE）的高通量qPCR分析提供了强有力的迹象，表明空气污染会加剧新鲜雪中ARG的传播，从而严重增加空气污染和ARG的健康风险。我们表明，降雪确实有效地将了来自点源的ARGs传播到了地球表面。我们的研究结果共同促成更好的污染控制，以减少全球传播抗生素抗性基因的风险。

    Antibiotic-resistant pathogens pose a significant threat to human health. Several dispersal mechanisms have been described, but transport of both microbes and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) via atmospheric particles has received little attention as a pathway for global dissemination. These atmospheric particles can return to the Earth’s surface via rain or snowfall, and thus promote long-distance spread of ARGs. However, the diversity and abundance of ARGs in fresh snow has not been studied and their potential correlation with particulate air pollution is not well explored. Here, we characterized ARGs in 44 samples of fresh snow from major cities in China, three in North America, and one in Europe, spanning a gradient from pristine to heavily anthropogenically influenced ecosystems. High-throughput qPCR analysis of ARGs and mobile genetic elements (MGEs) provided strong indications that dissemination of ARGs in fresh snow could be exacerbated by air pollution, severely increasing the health risks of both air pollution and ARGs. We showed that snowfall did effectively spread ARGs from point sources over the Earth surface. Together our findings urge for better pollution control to reduce the risk of global dissemination of antibiotic resistance genes.

    https://www.nature.com/articles/s41396-020-00780-2