Effects of monensin residues on microbial community and the attenuation of antibiotic resistance genes during chicken manure composting
- 1Institute of Veterinary Medicine and Immunology Drugs, Veterinary Department, College of Animal Science, State Key Laboratory of Green Pesticide, GuiZhou University, Guiyang, 550025 China
- 2Department of Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, Southwest University, Rongchang, Chongqing, 402460 China
Abstract
Background: Monensin is a polyether ionophore antibiotic widely used to prevent coccidiosis and inhibit Gram-positive bacteria. Composting is widely regarded as an effective strategy for reducing the abundance of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in manure. However, the long half-life of monensin may impose selective pressure on ARG attenuation, while its potential ecological risk remains unclear.
Results: In this study, metagenomics was used to analyze the effect of monensin residues on microbial communities during chicken manure composting (1, 15, and 45 days). Results showed that monensin significantly changed the structure of microbial communities during composting. It suppressed functional groups within Firmicutes and Actinobacteria, particularly the genera Bacillus and Streptomyces. Simultaneously, it promoted tolerant taxa, including Proteobacteria and the genus Halomonas. The results of qPCR for six representative ARGs (aadD, ant2-I, sul1, sul2, tetZ, and tetL) revealed that monensin could reduce the attenuation of some ARGs. Furthermore, monensin increased the abundance of several mobile genetic elements (MGEs) during the middle composting phase, especially the integron intI1 and transposase tnpA. Co-occurrence network analysis suggested stronger associations among specific ARGs, MGEs, and tolerant bacteria under monensin exposure, indicating a potential increase risk of ARG dissemination.
Conclusions: Monensin may suppress ARGs attenuation during manure composting by changing microbial communities and increasing the potential risk of ARG dissemination via MGEs. This study will provide a theoretical basis for the treatment of livestock waste and ecological risk assessment of monensin.
Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at https://doi.org/10.1186/s12866-026-05509-3.
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BibTeX
@article{liang2026effects,
title = {{Effects of monensin residues on microbial community and the attenuation of antibiotic resistance genes during chicken manure composting}},
author = {Ting Liang and Liting Cao and Anchun Cheng and Zhentao Cheng and Deyuan Ou and Xichen Gu and Xuqin Song and Jian Yang},
journal = {BMC Microbiology},
year = {2026},
month = aug,
doi = {10.1186/s12866-026-05509-3},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1186/s12866-026-05509-3},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Effects of monensin residues on microbial community and the attenuation of antibiotic resistance genes during chicken manure composting
AU - Ting Liang
AU - Liting Cao
AU - Anchun Cheng
AU - Zhentao Cheng
AU - Deyuan Ou
AU - Xichen Gu
AU - Xuqin Song
AU - Jian Yang
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/08/10
JO - BMC Microbiology
DO - 10.1186/s12866-026-05509-3
UR - https://doi.org/10.1186/s12866-026-05509-3
AB - Background: Monensin is a polyether ionophore antibiotic widely used to prevent coccidiosis and inhibit Gram-positive bacteria. Composting is widely regarded as an effective strategy for reducing the abundance of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in manure. However, the long half-life of monensin may impose selective pressure on ARG attenuation, while its potential ecological risk remains unclear. Results: In this study, metagenomics was used to analyze the effect of monensin residues on microbial communities during chicken manure composting (1, 15, and 45 days). Results showed that monensin significantly changed the structure of microbial communities during composting. It suppressed functional groups within Firmicutes and Actinobacteria, particularly the genera Bacillus and Streptomyces. Simultaneously, it promoted tolerant taxa, including Proteobacteria and the genus Halomonas. The results of qPCR for six representative ARGs (aadD, ant2-I, sul1, sul2, tetZ, and tetL) revealed that monensin could reduce the attenuation of some ARGs. Furthermore, monensin increased the abundance of several mobile genetic elements (MGEs) during the middle composting phase, especially the integron intI1 and transposase tnpA. Co-occurrence network analysis suggested stronger associations among specific ARGs, MGEs, and tolerant bacteria under monensin exposure, indicating a potential increase risk of ARG dissemination. Conclusions: Monensin may suppress ARGs attenuation during manure composting by changing microbial communities and increasing the potential risk of ARG dissemination via MGEs. This study will provide a theoretical basis for the treatment of livestock waste and ecological risk assessment of monensin. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at https://doi.org/10.1186/s12866-026-05509-3.
SN - 1471-2180
ER -