Environmental microbiome diversity and stability is a barrier to antimicrobial resistance gene accumulation

This study investigated the hypothesis that microbial diversity acts as a natural barrier against antimicrobial resistance (AMR) dissemination by reducing the persistence of invading antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB) and genes (ARGs). A pan-European sampling campaign across rewilded environments with low anthropogenic impact revealed that in soils, higher diversity, evenness, and richness were significantly negatively correlated with the relative abundance of most ARGs. However, this relationship was not observed in more dynamic riverbed environments. The findings suggest that microbiome diversity can impede AMR spread in static, disturbed environments where long-term resilience against invasion can develop.

Uli Klümper, Giulia Gionchetta, Elisa Cataó, Xavier Bellanger, Irina Diehlacher, Alan Xavier Elena, Peijun Fang, Sonia Galazka, Agata Goryluk-Salomonowicz, David Kleis, Uchechi Okoroafor, Elena Raud, Mateusz Szadziul, Edina Szekeres, Adela Teban-Man, Cristian Coman, Norbert Kreuzinger, Magdalena Popowska, Julia Virehilig, Fiona Walsh, Markus Woegerbauer, Helmut Bürgmann, Christophe Merlin, Thomas Ulrich Berendonk