Research on the microbiome and resistome in polar environments, such as the Arctic, is crucial for understanding the emergence and spread of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in the environment. In this study, soil and reindeer faeces samples collected from Ny-Ålesund (Svalbard, High Arctic) were examined to analyze the microbiome, ARGs, and biocide/metal resistance genes (BMRGs). The dominant phyla in both soil and faeces were Pseudomonadota, Actinomycetota, and Bacteroidota. A total of 2,618 predicted Open Reading Frames (ORFs) containing antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) were detected. These ARGs belong to 162 different genes across 17 antibiotic classes, with rifamycin and multidrug resistance genes being the most prevalent. We focused on investigating antibiotic resistance mechanisms in the Ny-Ålesund environment by analyzing the resistance genes and their biological pathways. Procrustes analysis demonstrated a significant correlation between bacterial communities and ARG/BMRG profiles in soil and faeces samples. Correlation analysis revealed that Pseudomonadota contributed most to multidrug and triclosan resistance, while Actinomycetota were predominant contributors to rifamycin and aminoglycoside resistance. The geochemical factors, SiO42- and NH4+, were found to significantly influence the microbial composition and ARG distribution in the soil samples. Analysis of ARGs, BMRGs, virulence factors (VFs), and pathogens identified potential health risks associated with certain bacteria, such as Cryobacterium and Pseudomonas, due to the presence of different genetic elements. This study provided valuable insights into the molecular mechanisms and geochemical factors contributing to antibiotic resistance and enhanced our understanding of the evolution of antibiotic resistance genes in the environment.

Biochar amendment is a promising strategy for mitigating antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in soil and plants, but its effects on ARGs at field scale are not fully understood. Here, field trials were executed utilizing two plant varieties, Brassica juncea and Lolium multiflorum, with four types of biochar to investigate changes in ARGs and microbiome in soil, rhizosphere, root endophytes, and leaf endophytes. Results showed that biochar altered ARG distribution in soil and plant, and restrained their transmission from soil and rhizosphere to endophytes. A reduction of 1.2-2.2 orders of magnitude in the quantity of ARGs was observed in root and leaf endophytes following biochar addition, while no significant changes were observed in soil and rhizosphere samples. Procrustes and network analyses revealed significant correlations between microbial communities and mobile genetic elements with ARGs (P < 0.05). Besides, redundancy and variation partitioning analysis indicated that bacterial communities may play a dominant role in shaping the ARGs profile, contributing to 43 % of the variation observed in ARGs. These field results suggest that biochar amendment alone may not fully alleviate ARGs in soil, but it has a significant beneficial impact on food safety and human health by effectively reducing ARGs in plant endophytes.

Microorganisms play a pivotal role as catalysts in the biogeochemical cycles of aquatic ecosystems within coal mining subsidence areas. Despite their importance, the succession of microbial communities with increasing mine age, particularly across different habitats, and variations in phylogenetically-based community assembly mechanisms are not well understood. To address this knowledge gap, we collected 72 samples from lake sediments, water, and surrounding topsoil (0-20 cm) at various mining stages (early: 16 years, middle: 31 years, late: 40 years). We analyzed these samples using 16S rRNA gene sequencing and multivariate statistical methods to explore the dynamics and assembly mechanisms of bacterial communities. Our findings reveal that increases in phosphorus and organic matter in sediments, correlating with mining age, significantly enhance bacterial alpha diversity while reducing species richness (P < 0.001). Homogenizing selection (49.9 %) promotes species asynchrony-complementarity, augmenting the bacterial community\'s ability to metabolize sulfur, phosphorus, and organic matter, resulting in more complex-stable co-occurrence networks. In soil, elevated nitrogen and organic carbon levels markedly influence bacterial community composition (Adonis R2 = 0.761), yet do not significantly alter richness or diversity (P > 0.05). The lake\'s high connectivity with surrounding soil leads to substantial species drift and organic matter accumulation, thereby increasing bacterial richness in later stages (P < 0.05) and enhancing the ability to metabolize dissolved organic matter, including humic-like substances, fulvic acids, and protein-like materials. The assembly of soil bacterial communities is largely governed by stochastic processes (79.0 %) with species drift (35.8 %) significantly shaping these communities over a broad spatial scale, also affecting water bacterial communities. However, water bacterial community assembly is primarily driven by stochastic processes (51.2 %), with a substantial influence from habitat quality (47.6 %). This study offers comprehensive insights into the evolution of microbial community diversity within coal mining subsidence water areas, with significant implications for enhancing environmental management and protection strategies for these ecosystems.

Microplastics can not only serve as vectors of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), but also they and even nanoplastics potentially affect the occurrence of ARGs in indigenous environmental microorganisms, which have aroused great concern for the development of antibiotic resistance. This article specifically reviews the effects of micro/nanoplastics (concentration, size, exposure time, chemical additives) and their interactions with other pollutants on environmental ARGs dissemination. The changes of horizontal genes transfer (HGT, i.e., conjugation, transformation and transduction) of ARGs caused by micro/nanoplastics were also summarized. Further, this review systematically sums up the mechanisms of micro/nanoplastics regulating HGT process of ARGs, including reactive oxygen species production, cell membrane permeability, transfer-related genes expression, extracellular polymeric substances production, and ARG donor-recipient adsorption/contaminants adsorption/biofilm formation. The underlying mechanisms in changes of bacterial communities induced by micro/nanoplastics were also discussed as it was an important factor for structuring the profile of ARGs in the actual environment, including causing environmental stress, providing carbon sources, forming biofilms, affecting pollutants distribution and environmental factors. This review contributes to a systematical understanding of the potential risks of antibiotic resistance dissemination caused by micro/nanoplastics and provokes thinking about perspectives for future research and the management of micro/nanoplastics and plastics.

Offshore coastal marine ranching ecosystems provide habitat for diverse and active bacterial communities. In this study, 16S rRNA gene sequencing and multiple bioinformatics methods were applied to investigate assembly dynamics and relationships in different habitats. The higher number of edges in the water network, more balanced ratio of positive and negative links, and more keystone species included in the co-occurrence network of water. Stochastic processes dominated in shaping gut and sediment community assembly (R2 < 0.5), while water bacterial community assembly were dominated by deterministic processes (R2 > 0.5). Dissimilarity-overlap curve model indicated that the communities in different habitats have general dynamics and interspecific interaction (P < 0.001). Bacterial source-tracking analysis revealed that the gut was more similar to the sediment than the water bacterial communities. In summary, this study provides basic data for the ecological study of marine ranching through the study of bacterial community dynamics.

Altitude and ultraviolet (UV) radiation may affect the community composition and distribution of microorganisms in soil ecosystems. In this study, 49 soil samples from 10 locations were collected from different elevations on the eastern Pamir Plateau and analyzed for soil microbial community structure and function using high-throughput sequencing. The results showed that soil samples from different elevations of the eastern Pamir Plateau contained 6834 OTUs in 26 phyla and 399 genera. The dominant phyla common to different elevations were Actinobacteria, Proteobacteria, Bacteroidota, Acidobacteriota, and Gemmatimonadota. The dominant genera were Rubrobacter, Sphingomonas, Nocardioides, and Solirubrobacter. Species richness increased slightly with elevation, and there were significant differences in community composition between the elevations. Elevation and UV exposure are important factors that drive changes in bacterial communities. The results of the KEGG pathway showed that drug resistance, antineoplastic, aging, replication, and repair were enhanced and then slightly decreased with increasing elevation. Bacterial communities at different elevations were rich in radiation-resistant microorganisms, and the main genera were Rubrobacter, Sphingomonas, Nocardioides, Pontibacter, and Streptomyces. The findings have shown the composition and distribution of bacterial communities at different elevations on the Eastern Pamir Plateau. Potentially radiation tolerant microbial species were also examined. The results are of considerable importance for the succession of bacterial microorganisms in the plateau region, the study of radiation tolerant bacterial germplasm resources, and the application of biofunctionality.

Hydraulic mixing of stratified reservoirs homogenizes physicochemical gradients and microbial communities. This has potential repercussions for microbial metabolism and water quality, not least in dams and hydraulically controlled waters. A better understanding of how key taxa respond to mixing of such stratified water bodies is needed to understand and predict the impact of hydraulic operations on microbial communities and nutrient dynamics in reservoirs. We studied taxa transitions between cyanobacteria and sulfur-transforming bacteria following mixing of stratified water columns in bioreactors and complemented the experimental approach with a biogeochemical model. Model predictions were consistent with experimental observations, suggesting that stable stratification of DO is restored within 24 h after episodic and complete mixing, at least in the absence of other more continuous disturbances. Subsequently, the concentration of S2- gradually return to pre-mixing states, with higher concentration at the surface and lower in the bottom waters, while the opposite pattern was seen for SO42-. The total abundance of sulfate-reducing bacteria and phototrophic sulfur bacteria increased markedly after 24h of mixing. The model further predicted that the rapid re-oxygenation of the entire water column by aeration will effectively suppress the water stratification and the growth of sulfur-transforming bacteria. Based on these results, we suggest that a reduction of thermocline depth by optimal flow regulation in reservoirs may also depress sulfur transforming bacteria and thereby constrain sulfur transformation processes and pollutant accumulation. The simulation of microbial nutrient transformation processes in vertically stratified waters can provide new insights about effective environmental management measures for reservoirs.

Among many ecological services provided by mangrove ecosystems, soil organic carbon (SOC) storages have recently received much attention owing to the increasing atmospheric partial pressure of dissolved CO2 (pCO2). Bacteria are fundamental to ecosystem functions and strongly influence the coupling of coastal carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur cycling in soils. The SOC storage and bacterial communities along a restored mangrove soil chronosequence in the Jiulong River Estuary were explored using the 16S rDNA sequencing technique. The results showed the SOC storage in the 100 cm soil profile was 103.31 ± 5.87 kg C m-2 and 93.10 ± 11.28 kg C m-2 for mangroves with afforestation ages of 36 and 60 years, respectively. The total nitrogen (TN) and total sulfur (TS) contents exhibited significant correlations with the SOC in the mangrove soils, but only TN and SOC showed significant correlation in tidal flat soils. Although the tidal flats and mangroves occupied the contiguous intertidal zone within several kilometers, the variations in the SOC storage along the restored mangrove soil chronosequence were notably higher. The Functional Annotation of Prokaryotic Taxa (FAPROTAX) database was used to annotate the metabolic functions of the bacteria in the soils. The annotation revealed that only four metabolic functions were enriched with a higher relative abundance of the corresponding bacteria, and these enriched functions were largely associated with sulfate reduction. In addition, the specifically critical bacterial taxa that were associated with the SOC accumulation and nutrient cycling, shaped the distinct metabolic functions, and consequently facilitated the SOC accumulation in the mangrove soils with various afforestation ages. The general homogenization of the microbial community and composition along the intertidal soil chronosequence was primarily driven by the reciprocating tidal flows and geographical contiguity.

In this study, the metabolic profiles of traditional craftsmanship (TC) Liupao tea presented great changes at different processing stages. The contents of flavonoids and their glycosides generally exhibited a continuing downward trend, resulting in the sensory quality of TC-Liupao tea gradually improved. However, the taste of TC-Liupao tea faded when piling exceeded 12 h, as a result of the excessive degradation of some key flavor substances. Therefore, it could be deduced that piling for 10 h might be optimum for the quality formation of TC-Liupao tea. Sphingomonas, Acrobacter, Microbacterium, and Methylobacterium were the dominant bacteria during piling. The correlation analysis between differential metabolites and bacteria showed that only Sphingomonas and Massilia were significantly correlated to metabolites, demonstrating that the bacteria had less effect on the transformation of metabolites. Thus, the metabolic structure change during the process of TC-Liupao tea might be mainly attributed to the high temperature and humidity environment.

The continuous accumulation of microplastics in agricultural soils may affect the natural attenuation of oxygen-containing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (OPAHs). The effects of low-density polyethylene (LDPE) microplastics with the spiking proportion of 1 % and 0.01 % in soils on the natural attenuation of OPAHs were investigated via soil microcosm experiments. The relation between the response of bacterial communities and OPAHs dissipation was also explored. The initial content of OPAHs in the soil was 34.6 mg·kg-1. The dissipation of OPAHs in the soil on day 14 was inhibited by LDPE. The contents of OPAHs in LDPE groups were higher than that in the control by 0.9-1.6 mg·kg-1, and the inhibition degree increased with the proportion of LDPE. The contents of OPAHs were not significantly different among groups on day 28, indicating that the inhibitory effect of LDPE disappeared. LDPE did not change the composition of the dominant taxa in the OPAHs-contaminated soil community but influenced the relative abundances of some dominant taxa. LDPE increased the relative abundance of Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria at the phylum level and decreased that of Bacillus and increased those of Micromonospora, Sphingomonas, and Nitrospira (potential degrading bacteria of LDPE and endogenous substances) at the genus level, all four of which were the main genera dominating intergroup community differences. LDPE changed the α and β diversity of bacterial communities, but the extents were not significant. LDPE affected the function of the bacterial community, reducing the total abundance of PAHs-degrading genes and some degrading enzymes, inhibiting the growth of PAHs-degrading bacteria and thus interfering with the natural decay of OPAHs.