Nanopore + Ion Torrent sequencing, assembly, and annotation of culture-free streambed plasmids reveals hitchhiking genes for resistance to multiple human clinical antibiotics

4. CONCLUSIONS • Transmissible plasmids affect environmental ecosystems via exchange and recombination of antibiotic resistance genes. • Exchange occurs between native bacterial populations and introduced fecal pathogens selected for resistance in farm animals. • Public Health Relevance: Native bacteria in aquatic and soil habitats may act as incubators and sites for recombination of genes that are subsequently transferred to human pathogens. Plasmid 1-1 Plasmid 1-20