Changes in ARG load in the metagenomes ( A ) and in clinical ( B ) and pre-clinical ( C ) integron cassette arrays from freshwater bacteria exposed to antibiotics, microplastics, and both combined. ARG load was determined by blasting non-assembled metagenomic sequences, clinical and pre-clinical integron sequences against the CARD antibiotic resistance database. ARG abundance is normalized by sequencing depth. ANOVA p -values: 0.0015 ( A ), 0.16 ( B ), 0.08 ( C ). Only pairwise comparisons with p -value < 0.05 are shown. n = 3
