Transmission and regulation insights into antibiotic resistance genes in straw-sludge composting system amended with...

This study developed a Fenton-like system by adding calcium peroxide (CaO₂) to a composting system containing straw and sludge. The objective was to examine the influence of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and the structure of the bacterial community. The findings indicated that the inclusion of CaO₂ facilitated the reduction of ARGs. ARGs abundance in the test group (T) with CaO₂ was 19.02% lower than that in the control check group (CK) without CaO₂, and the abundance of ARGs in both groups after composting was lower than the initial abundance. Additionally, the structure of bacterial community in both groups underwent significant changes. Redundancy analysis (RDA) revealed that the CaO₂-induced Fenton-like reaction predominantly affected temperature, pH, and the bacterial community by means of reactive oxygen species (ROS). In conclusion, the addition of CaO₂ enhanced the removal of ARGs from sewage-sludge and improved compost quality in the composting.