The behavior of antibiotic-resistance genes and their relationships with the bacterial community and heavy metals during sewage sludge composting

The main contributors to antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) profiles during the composting process under the addition of biochar (BC) and peat (PT) were not fully explored. This study investigated the influence of BC and PT amendment on ARGs fate, the bacterial community and heavy metals in sewage sludge compost. Compared to control, BC and PT declined the total abundances of ARGs by 17.6% and 43.0% after composting. Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes and Proteobacteria were the dominant phyla across the composting process, among which, members of Firmicutes (mainly Bacillaceae) were the potential hosts for multiple ARGs. BC and PT addition declined the abundance of bacterial pathogens such as Bacteroides and Pseudomonas. Besides, the concentrations of copper (Cu), zinc (Zn) and lead (Pb) were less in BC and PT treatments than control on day 40, and these metals displayed significant positive correlations to sul1 and intI1. Furthermore, variation partitioning analysis (VPA) revealed that the bacterial community exhibited the most contribution to the ARG patterns, as much as 34.0%, followed by heavy metals (10.8%) and intI1 gene (1.5%). These results suggested that biochar and peat can reduce the risks of ARGs in sewage sludge mainly by sharping the bacterial composition. •Biochar and peat reduced the abundance of ARGs during composting.•Biochar and peat promoted the removal of heavy metals.•The addition of biochar significantly declined the abundance of bacteria pathogens.•The bacterial community contributed the most to the ARGs profiles.