Exploring the interaction between agronomic practices and soil characteristics on the presence of antibiotic resistance genes in soil.

In this study, field-scale experiments were carried out to analyze the coupling effects of typical agronomic measures and soil types on soil antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) using high-throughput fluorescence quantitative PCR. The results indicated that agronomic measures enhanced ARG abundance in different soil types. For the same soil type, the enhancement of ARG abundance in response to agronomic measures could be ordered as follows: livestock manure application (257.6–131.7 %) > sewage irrigation (57.6–35.0 %) > plastic film mulching (21.2–5.0 %). Under the same agronomic measures, enhancement of ARG abundance according to soil type was: clay (257.6–21.2 %) > loam (147.8–15.9 %) > sandy (131.7–5.0 %). Furthermore, the contributions of environmental factors in determining ARG abundance in different soil types differed in response to the application of different agronomic measures. Phthalates had the most and least pronounced effects on ARG abundance in sandy and loam soils, respectively. Effects of moisture on ARG abundance were minor in loam soil, but greater in clay and sandy soils. These findings provide new insights into the dissemination of soil ARGs promoted by the adoption of agronomic measures. • Under same measure, soil resistance gene abundance was in order: clay > loam > sandy. • Effects of phthalates on resistance genes in soils were in order: sandy > clay > loam. • Effects of moisture on resistance genes in soils were in order: sandy and clay > loam. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]