A Comparative Analysis of Aquatic and Polyethylene-Associated Antibiotic-Resistant Microbiota in the Mediterranean Sea

Abstract

In this study, we evaluated the microbiome and the resistome profile of water and fragments of polyethylene (PE) waste collected at the same time from a stream and the seawater in a coastal area of Northwestern Sicily. Although a core microbiome was determined by sequencing of the V3–V4 region of the bacterial 16S rDNA gene, quantitative differences were found among the microbial communities on PE waste and the corresponding water samples. Our findings indicated that PE waste contains a more abundant and increased core microbiome diversity than the corresponding water samples. Moreover, PCR analysis of specific antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) showed that PE waste harbors more ARGs than the water samples. Thus, PE waste could act as a carrier of antibiotic-resistant microbiota, representing an increased danger for the marine environment and living organisms, as well.