摘要
      海洋悬浮颗粒物是各种微生物独特的微生境，也是微生物代谢活动的热点。然而，在沿海栖息地，细菌病原体，尤其是携带抗生素耐药性基因（ARGs）的细菌病原体与这些颗粒物的关联在很大程度上仍然未知。本研究使用NextGen测序和qPCR调查了在三个沿海海滩采集的样本中，病原体相关细菌和ARGs在颗粒相关（PA）和自由生活（FL）组分中的分布。悬浮颗粒中病原体相关属和ARGs的细菌丰度明显高于其对应物。微生物群落的功能分析表明，与FL微生物群落相比，PA微生物组中的抗生素生物合成途径也更丰富，这进一步促进了ARGs的传播。此外，13个病原体相关属在PA组分中与ARG共发生，而只有2个病原体相关的属在FL组分中与其共发生。总的来说，我们的研究表明，与周围水域相比，悬浮颗粒含有更丰富的病原体相关属和ARG。因此，悬浮颗粒物是病原体相关属和ARGs的热点，可能对沿海海滩的人类健康构成更大威胁。
Abstract
Marine suspended particles are unique micro-habitats for diverse microbes and also hotspots of microbially metabolic activities. However, the association of bacterial pathogens, especially those carrying antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), with these particles remain largely unknown in coastal habitats. This study investigated the distribution of pathogen-related bacteria and ARGs in particle-associated (PA) and free-living (FL) fractions of samples collected at three coastal beaches using NextGen sequencing and qPCR. Suspended particles were found to harbor significantly higher abundances of bacteria of pathogen-related genera and ARGs than their counterparts. Functional analysis of microbial community suggested that antibiotic biosynthetic pathways were also more abundant among PA microbiome comparing to FL microbial community, which further facilitated the spread of ARGs. Additionally, 13 pathogen-related genera co-occurred with ARG in PA fraction while only 2 pathogen-related genera co-occurred with ARGs in FL fraction. Overall, our research revealed suspended particles harbored more abundant pathogen-related genera and ARGs comparing with surrounding waters. Thus, suspended particles are hotspots for pathogen-related genera and ARGs and may pose a greater threat to human health in coastal beach.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0048969722000936