Toward a Universal Unit for Quantification of Antibiotic Resistance Genes in Environmental Samples
Xiaole Yin (The University of Hong Kong)
Xi Chen (The University of Hong Kong)
Xiao Tao Jiang (University of New South Wales Faculty of Medicine)
Ying Yang (Sun Yat-sen University)
Bing Li (Tsinghua University)
Marcus Ho Hin Shum (University of Hong Kong)
Heike Schmitt (Rijksinstituut voor Volksgezondheid en Milieu (RIVM), TU Delft - BT/Environmental Biotechnology)
Chang Jun Cha (Chung-Ang University)
Mark C.M. Van Loosdrecht (TU Delft - BT/Environmental Biotechnology)
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Abstract
Surveillance of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) has been increasingly conducted in environmental sectors to complement the surveys in human and animal sectors under the "One-Health"framework. However, there are substantial challenges in comparing and synthesizing the results of multiple studies that employ different test methods and approaches in bioinformatic analysis. In this article, we consider the commonly used quantification units (ARG copy per cell, ARG copy per genome, ARG density, ARG copy per 16S rRNA gene, RPKM, coverage, PPM, etc.) for profiling ARGs and suggest a universal unit (ARG copy per cell) for reporting such biological measurements of samples and improving the comparability of different surveillance efforts.