Antibiotic resistance genes found in soils across the entire Scottish landscape (2007-10)

The dataset collates the relative concentration of nearly 300 antimicrobial resistance (AMR) genes found in soil locations across Scotland.

Soils were obtained from the National Soils Inventory of Scotland (NSIS2), from which the total community DNA were extracted and provided to assess AMR gene content. Sampling of the NSIS2 was conducted between 2007-2010 at 183 soil locations representing intersections of a 20km grid across all of Scotland.

For each sample, nearly 300 AMR genes were assessed representing major antibiotic classes, and included many resistance traits: aminoglycosides, beta-lactams, FCA (fluoroquinolone, quinolone, chloramphenicol, florfenicol and amphenicol resistance genes), MLSB (macrolide, lincosamide, streptogramin B), tetracycline, vancomycin, sulphonamide, efflux pumps and integron genes. The data represent relative gene abundance, i.e., the amount of genes per "total bacteria".