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Assessing Class 1 Integron Presence in Poultry Litter Amended with Wood Biochar and Wood Vinegar

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Abstract

Class 1 integrons are mobile genetic elements that facilitate the spread of antibiotic resistance genes among bacteria. The use of prophylactic antibiotics has resulted in the rise of antibiotic resistance genes accumulating in a wide range of settings, including poultry houses and the agricultural fields where poultry litter is applied as a fertilizer. Biochar and wood vinegar are forest products wastes that have generated increasing attention as additives to agricultural soils. The objectives of this study were to observe the prevalence of class 1 integrons in poultry litter blended with biochar and wood vinegar over time and to verify a modified class 1 integron screening assay. Poultry litter blends were sampled and screened for class 1 integrons using polymerase chain reaction, and 80 products, 79 of which showed positive, were sent for DNA sequencing. The GenBank® BLAST database was used to verify the presence of the class 1 integron-integrase gene (intI1). There was no change in prevalence over time in poultry litter blends. Out of 79 PCR products that were intI1 positive, 78 showed at least 95% sequence identity to intI1 encoding bacteria and 64 showed at least 97% sequence identity. This indicates that this method was effective for conducting baseline surveillance of class 1 integrons in poultry litter and poultry litter-blended biochar and/or wood vinegar. Most significantly, class 1 integron prevalence did not decrease over time, further supporting the recalcitrance of these elements and the need for improved monitoring systems.

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Data Availability

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request. Datasets are housed permanently on the Mississippi State University Department of Sustainable Bioproducts servers.

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Funding

This project was funded by the Department of Sustainable Bioproducts and College of Forest Resources at Mississippi State University.

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Both authors contributed to the study conception and design. MKM performed material preparation, data collection, and analysis. MKM wrote the first draft of the manuscript and both authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. Both authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Maryam K Mohammadi-Aragh.

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284_2021_2640_MOESM1_ESM.docx

Supplementary file1 (DOCX 19 kb). Supplementary Table 1 The amplified region of intI1 isolated from poultry litter blend bacteria generated BLAST sequence matches of ≥ 95% sequence identity to previously submitted nucleotide sequences. 107 BLAST intI1 matches were analyzed to verify an intI1 match, and the bacteria species, accession number, and intI1 verification are designated for each of the 107 matches.

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Mohammadi-Aragh, M.K., Stokes, C.E. Assessing Class 1 Integron Presence in Poultry Litter Amended with Wood Biochar and Wood Vinegar. Curr Microbiol 78, 3733–3740 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00284-021-02640-4

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