Soil antibiotic resistance genes at the One Health interface: Evidence trajectories, dissemination risks, and risk-based management

Soils serve as reservoirs and transmission interfaces for antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), which can function as mobile genetic contaminants by persisting and replicating within microbial hosts and propagating via horizontal gene transfer (HGT). However, evidence linking mitigation mechanisms to environmental risk reduction remains insufficiently synthesized. Here, we integrate bibliometric trajectory analysis with mechanistic synthesis, using 2,309 Web of Science Core Collection records published between 2008 and 2026 to identify research trajectories, knowledge structures, and emerging mitigation fronts. The field has shifted from occurrence surveys and source identification toward intervention-oriented control, accelerating markedly after 2019. Foundational knowledge centers on soil resistome dynamics, mobile genetic element (MGE)-mediated HGT, and contaminant-driven co-selection. Current fronts highlight biochar-mediated regulation, manure and compost management, reactive oxygen species (ROS)-driven or photocatalytic inactivation of extracellular deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), and ARG responses under co-contamination by antibiotics, heavy metals, and microplastics. Beyond mapping research trends, this review constructs a three-tier mitigation framework spanning extracellular DNA deconstruction and sequestration, MGE-mediated transfer inhibition, and system-level microecological restructuring through source management and soil amendment. Future work should integrate absolute gene loads, host identity, ARG-MGE linkage, transfer frequency, soil biogeochemical context, and field-scale ecological rebound into mechanistically grounded and ecologically defensible evaluation frameworks that assess reductions in ARG dissemination risk alongside effects on soil function, ecological resilience, and organic resource circularity.