Long-term nickel contamination increases the occurrence of antibiotic resistance genes in agricultural soils

Heavy metal contamination is assumed to be a selection pressure on antibiotic resistance, but to our knowledge, evidence of the heavy metal-induced changes of antibiotic resistance is lacking on a long-term basis. Using quantitative PCR array and Illumina sequencing, we investigated the changes of a wide spectrum of soil antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) following 4- 5 year nickel exposure (0-800 mg kg-1) in two long-term experimental sites. A total of 149 unique ARGs were detected, with multidrug and β-lactam resistance as the most prevailing ARG types. The frequencies and abundance of ARGs tended to increase along the gradient of increasing nickel concentrations, with the highest values recorded in the treatments amended with 400 mg nickel kg-1 soil. The abundance of mobile genetic elements (MGEs) was significantly associated with ARGs, suggesting that nickel exposure might enhance the potential for horizontal transfer of ARGs. Network analysis demonstrated significant associations between ARGs and MGEs, with the integrase intI1 gene having the most frequent interactions with other cooccurring ARGs. The changes of ARGs were mainly driven by nickel bioavailability and MGEs as revealed by structural equation models. Taken together, long-term nickel exposure significantly increased the diversity, abundance, and horizontal transfer potential of soil ARGs.