摘要

地球临界区维持着陆地生活，并由未改变的岩石和大气边界之间的薄的行星表层组成。在这个区域内，能量和物质的流动是由物理过程和不同生物体的行为所介导的。人类活动显着影响这些物理和生物过程，影响大气，浅层岩石圈，水圈和生物圈。生物体的作用包括另外一类生物地球化学循环，这是遗传信息的流动和转化。控制碳循环和氮循环的微生物尤其如此。这些生物过程是由功能基因的表达以及它们翻译成催化地球化学反应的酶所介导的。了解人类对微生物活动，适应性和分布的影响是关键区科学的重要组成部分，但对于从个体生物到地球的巨大物理尺度的影响进行调查非常具有挑战性。可能容易处理的一个领域是研究抗生素抗性基因的动态和传播以及携带这些基因的生物体。在这里我们探索通过地球的关键区域的微生物基因和细胞的运输和转化。我们通过检查抗生素抗性基因的起源和崛起，其随后的传播以及抗生物体对多种生态系统的持续定植来实现这一目标。

Earth's Critical Zone sustains terrestrial life and consists of the thin planetary surface layer between unaltered rock and the atmospheric boundary. Within this zone, flows of energy and materials are mediated by physical processes and by the actions of diverse organisms. Human activities significantly influence these physical and biological processes, affecting the atmosphere, shallow lithosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere. The role of organisms includes an additional class of biogeochemical cycling, this being the flow and transformation of genetic information. This is particularly the case for the microorganisms that govern carbon and nitrogen cycling. These biological processes are mediated by the expression of functional genes and their translation into enzymes that catalyze geochemical reactions. Understanding human effects on microbial activity, fitness and distribution is an important component of Critical Zone science, but is highly challenging to investigate across the enormous physical scales of impact ranging from individual organisms to the planet. One arena where this might be tractable is by studying the dynamics and dissemination of genes for antibiotic resistance and the organisms that carry such genes. Here we explore the transport and transformation of microbial genes and cells through Earth's Critical Zone. We do so by examining the origins and rise of antibiotic resistance genes, their subsequent dissemination, and the ongoing colonization of diverse ecosystems by resistant organisms.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/gcb.14003