Review on the removal of antibiotic resistance genes from livestock manure by composting

In recent years, due to the abuse of antibiotics in livestock industry, the antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) are induced to produce in animals. ARGs are excreted into the environment with the feces, and contaminate the soil and groundwater through horizontal gene transfer (HGT). This in turn causes ARGs contamination. Composting, as an excellent traditional method of recycling manure, has a positive effect on the removal of ARGs from the environment. This article focuses on the removal effects of livestock manure composting (including aerobic composting and anaerobic composting) on ARGs, and then evaluates and prospects the removal of ARGs during manure composting.