Antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) occur even in remote cryospheric regions, yet their environmental selection mechanisms, distribution, and risks remain unclear. Here, 45% of 920 bacterial strains from Tibetan Plateau ice cores, cryoconites, snow, and lakes carry ARGs, with prevalence and diversity varying across habitats, reflecting distinct environmental pressures. Snow-derived ARGs reflect atmospheric deposition, whereas ice cores preserve resistance via genome recycling. Organic- and heavy metal-rich cryoconites promote ARG acquisition and persistence, while lakes reduce ARG abundance through natural attenuation. Strains of the same species exhibit consistent ARG profiles, and only 6.4% of ARGs are associated with mobile genetic elements, indicating that vertical inheritance predominates. Thirty-three high-risk ARG subtypes were identified, including several in potentially pathogenic genera. Tibetan strains carry fewer ARGs than those from human-impacted sites. This large-scale, culture-based resistome survey identifies the Tibetan Plateau as a natural baseline and highlights potential ARG mobilization risks under environmental change. 45% of 920 of cryospheric bacterial strains from Tibetan Plateau carry antibiotic-resistance genes with habitat-specific patterns, with 6.4% linked to mobile genetic elements, suggesting vertical inheritance in low-selection environments, based on analysis of strains from distinct habitats.
Mao et al. (Wed,) studied this question.