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Occurrence characteristics and influencing factors of antibiotic resistance genes in rural groundwater in Henan Province

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Abstract

This study determined the antibiotic-resistant gene (ARG) contents of 34 groundwater samples in Henan Province collected from September to October 2022, then assessed the roles of both water quality parameters and intI1 in ARG propagation in groundwater. The results show that there existed universal ARG pollution in groundwater, and sulfonamides-, β-lactem-, and tetracycline-resistance genes were the most prevalent gene types during the time. Sul1 contributed the majority proportion of the total resistance genes (TARGs). The prevalence of ESBLs gene blaTEM and the occurrence of Carbapenems resistant gene blaOXA-1 suggests the pollution of high-risk ARGs in groundwater demands more attention. IntI1 is prevalent and had a significantly positive correlation with almost 50% ARGs, indicating its contribution to ARG propagation in groundwater. Well types contribute little to ARG propagation in rural groundwater of Henan, which means the protective facilities established by the local government for public wells can effectively prevent contamination from exogenous ARGs. However, the economic level has no impact on the abundance of ARGs in rural groundwater, which suggests the local government should pay greater attention to investment in controlling ARG pollution in Henan rural areas.

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Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (42007209) and the Nanhu Scholars Program for Young Scholars of XYNU.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Geographic Sciences, Henan Key Laboratory for Synergistic Prevention of Water and Soil Environmental Pollution, Xinyang Normal University, Xinyang, 464000, China

    Kai Zhang, Penglin Fan, Yarou Lu, Ningning Wang, Mengyuan Qin & Ruojing Li

  2. Development Research Center, Ministry of Water Resources of People’s Republic of China, Beijing, 100032, China

    Kuangjia Li

  3. College of Ecology and Environment, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450000, China

    Feiyue Hu

  4. School of Marine Science and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072, China

    Rui Xin

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  1. Kai Zhang
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  2. Kuangjia Li
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  3. Feiyue Hu
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  4. Rui Xin
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  5. Penglin Fan
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Contributions

Conceptualization: Kai Zhang, Kuangjia Li; methodology: Kai Zhang, Kuangjia Li, Rui Xin; formal analysis and investigation: Kai Zhang, Feiyue Hu, Rui Xin, Penglin Fan, Yarou Lu, Ningning Wang, Mengyuan Qin, Ruojing Li; writing — original draft preparation: Kai Zhang; writing — review and editing: Kuangjia Li, Rui Xin; funding acquisition: Kai Zhang; Resources: Kai Zhang; supervision: Kai Zhang.

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Zhang, K., Li, K., Hu, F. et al. Occurrence characteristics and influencing factors of antibiotic resistance genes in rural groundwater in Henan Province. Environ Sci Pollut Res 31, 16685–16695 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-024-32258-5

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