Journal article
Optimising composting to reduce plasmid and integrative conjugative element conjugation to minimise antibiotic resistomes in livestock manure for safe organic fertilisation
Journal of hazardous materials, Vol.514, pp.1-12
01/08/2026
PMID: 42248101
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Abstract
Antimicrobial resistance is a critical threat to organic fertilizer production from livestock manure by composting. This study provides new insights to the dynamics of antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs) during composting to propose strategies for their elimination. Results from genome-resolved metagenomics, meta-analysis, and quantitative assessment showed temperature and moisture content as key factors governing ARG dynamics during composting. Although integrative conjugative elements (ICE) could be transferable by some thermophilic bacteria, composting temperature to above 60 °C reduces mobile ARGs driven by plasmid conjugation for elimination. Further controlling moisture content to low than 60% inhibits the secretion of extracellular polymeric substances to restrain ARG rebound by ICE conjugation, particularly at the maturation stage of composting. These results are significantly useful for China, where swine manure accounted for most of livestock manure-derived ARGs (91.5%). Applying findings from this study to optimise the composting of livestock manure could reduce ARG proliferation by up to 59.3% in China.
Details
- Title
- Optimising composting to reduce plasmid and integrative conjugative element conjugation to minimise antibiotic resistomes in livestock manure for safe organic fertilisation
- Creators
- Zhicheng Xu - China Agricultural UniversityLanxia Zhang - China Agricultural UniversityDong Zhu - Chinese Academy of SciencesSuli Zhi - Agro-Environmental Protection InstituteNicholas J. Ashbolt - Queensland University of TechnologyGuoxue Li - China Agricultural UniversityWenhai Luo - China Agricultural UniversityLong D. Nghiem - University of Technology Sydney
- Publication Details
- Journal of hazardous materials, Vol.514, pp.1-12
- Publisher
- Elsevier B.V.
- Grant note
- This research was supported under the National Key R&D Program of China (2023YFD1702000), China National Postdoctoral Program for Innovative Talents (BX20230421), China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2023M733789), UTS-CAU joint research student training program, and the Australia’s Cooperative Research Centre for Solving Antimicrobial Resistance in Agribusiness, Food and Environments (SAAFECRC, S032).
- Identifiers
- 991013385949702368
- Copyright
- © 2026.
- Academic Unit
- Faculty of Science and Engineering; Science
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article