Metagenomic exploration of antimicrobial resistance genes in marine bacteria ecosystem

Background: Antibiotic resistance (AMR) is a crucial threat to human health and challenges the effectiveness of clinical interventions. Antibiotic resistance is often perpetuated by the indiscriminate use of antibiotics leading to selection pressure and the transfer of the resistance genes between humans, domestic animals, and the environment. Being the ultimate recipient of runoffs and effluents, the marine environment is a potential reservoir of Antimicrobial Resistance Genes (ARGs). Terrestrial input from anthropogenic activities such as the indiscriminate use of antibiotics drives the accumulation of ARGs in the marine environment. The dissemination of these genes in the marine environment is aided by Horizontal Gene Transfer (HGT) using Mobile Genetic elements (MGEs). Despite the reported evidence on the presence of ARGs in world oceans, antimicrobial resistance monitoring in the African marine environment remains limited. Methods This exploratory study conducted a bioinformatics-based screening for Antimicrobial Resistance Genes (ARGs) using secondary data from the European Nucleotide Archive (ENA). Antimicrobial Resistance Gene screening was done using the Resistance Gene Identifier and AMRFinderPlus tools. Results We found 38 different Antimicrobial Resistance Genes (ARGs) classified into 10 drug classes from the analyzed marine metagenomes. The most abundant genes identified include vanT and vanY belonging to the glycopeptide class, adeF in fluoroquinolone and tetracycline, bla OXA and bla SGM in the b-lactam class, and qacG in the small multidrug resistance group. Conclusion These findings underscore the crucial role of the marine environment in harbouring resistance genes, particularly in the African region, highlighting the urgent need to integrate environmental screening in the surveillance and monitoring programs of AMR.