Cerium dioxide nanoparticle exposure attenuates mobility-linked antibiotic resistome signatures across the soil-lettuce continuum.

Abstract

Antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) are contaminants of emerging concern in agricultural microbiomes. Their association with mobile genetic elements (MGEs) can enhance dissemination across soil-plant interfaces, creating potential environmental and food-chain exposure risks. However, how engineered nanoparticles modulate relative ARG abundance and mobility-linked resistome features in plant-associated microbiomes remains poorly understood. Here, we examined the effects of graded, experimentally elevated cerium dioxide nanoparticle (CeO2 NP) loadings in a soil-lettuce system by integrating compartment-resolved metagenomics, ARG-MGE co-occurrence analysis, putative host-reservoir profiling, transcriptomics, and functional assays. Metagenomic profiling identified 16 ARG types and 125 subtypes and revealed niche-dependent microbiome restructuring under CeO2 NP exposure. Rhizosphere relative ARG abundance showed a negative dose-associated trend, although overall inter-group differences were not significant, whereas leaf endophytes showed a weaker response. Relative MGE abundance decreased significantly in both compartments, and lower assembly-level ARG-MGE co-occurrence reflected fewer ARGs detected in MGE-associated genomic contexts, whereas fewer multi-ARG contigs suggested reduced ARG clustering and potential co-selection. Putative host-reservoir analysis associated key efflux determinants with bacterial families whose relative representation declined following CeO2 NP exposure. Transcriptomic profiling of representative putative ARG hosts revealed host-specific responses, including downregulation of genes involved in central metabolism and Sec-dependent trafficking. Complementary host assays showed reduced apparent envelope permeability and lower recovery of tetracycline-resistant recipient-identity colonies in the plasmid-associated host system. Together, under the tested elevated-loading conditions, CeO2 NP exposure was associated with lower relative ARG signals and weaker mobility-linked resistome features across the soil-lettuce continuum, providing mechanistic insight into nanoparticle-resistome interactions in soil-plant systems.