Acta Veterinaria et Zootechnica Sinica ›› 2025, Vol. 56 ›› Issue (9): 4279-4293.doi: 10.11843/j.issn.0366-6964.2025.09.013

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Research Progress on the Horizontal Gene Transfer of Antibiotic Resistance Genes from Livestock and Poultry Manure

YANG Xin1(), WANG Shaoyu1, TONG Chang1, PENG Zhitao1, CAI Shenghuang1, HUANG Junxiong1, XU Jiaojiao1, WEN Xin1, WU Yinbao1,2,3,4,*()   

  1. 1. College of Animal Science, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
    2. State Key Laboratory of Swine and Poultry Breeding Industry, Guangzhou 510642, China
    3. National Engineering Research Center for Breeding Swine Industry, Guangzhou 510642, China
    4. Guangdong Provincial Key Lab of Agro-Animal Genomics and Molecular Breeding, Guangzhou 510642, China
  • Received:2024-10-18 Online:2025-09-23 Published:2025-09-30
  • Contact: WU Yinbao E-mail:3258636660@qq.com;wuyinbao@scau.edu.cn

Abstract:

The use of antibiotics in livestock and poultry farming accounts for more than 50% of the global antibiotic use, and the antibiotics resistance genes (ARGs) from livestock and poultry farms are one of the important sources of environmental antibiotic resistance. The primary reason is that ARGs could enter the environment carried by livestock and poultry manure. Their threat is manifested through the transmission of horizontal gene transfer (HGT), which impacts other environmental microorganisms. This paper provides a comprehensive review of the research advancements related to the HGT of ARGs derived from livestock manure. Firstly, this review elaborates that fecal matter is a significant source of antibiotis and ARGs in the environment, then summarizes the four pathways of HGT which leads to the environmental spread of ARGs, including conjugative transfer, transduction, transformation, and transport via outer membrane vesicles (OMVs). The important factors (antibiotics, heavy metals, organic pollutants and micro/nanoplasties, etc.) affecting the HGT of ARGs in the environment is also discussed. Finally, some current recent research techniques for HGT is listed as well. This paper summarizes the current status of ARGs, emerging environmental pollutants from livestock and poultry manure sources, which can provide solid theoretical basis for the research on pollution control of ARGs in livestock and poultry manure sources.

Key words: livestock and poultry manure, antibiotic resistance genes, horizonal gene transfer, influencing factors, research technology

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