other protein-coding mobile genetic elements were present at all levels of filtration, and these mobile elements harbored genes for resistance. These soil and water-based resistant communities are known as reservoirs, from which resistance can transfer to pathogenic bacteria. Metagenomic sequencing and short-read based assembly have revealed the exchange of antibiotic resistance genes between non-pathogenic environmental soil bacteria and clinical pathogens. The portions in the soil bacteria perfectly match the identity of several diverse human pathogens and contain resistance cassettes against five classes of antibiotics. These resistance cassettes also contain sequences that reflect recent horizontal gene transfer and provide the mechanism for how that transfer occurred. These antibiotic resistant genes also retain their functionality even after they are entirely removed from the context of their original host, emphasizing their compatibility with a wide range of hosts, including pathogens. Interestingly, the high conservation of resistance gene identity also was observed in the human gut microbiome. Although the average amino acid similarity between human gut microbiota and resistant pathogens was only around 30.2 to 45.5%, their resistance genes perfectly matched those of the pathogenic bacteria, suggesting the resistomes of the human gastrointestinal tract, soil, and clinical pathogens are all connected. It should be noted, however, that the risk of transmission cannot simply be extrapolated from abundance of resistome genes in a population, and a multifaceted approach to risk analyses should be considered to fully understand the risks posed. For example, the mobility of antibiotic resistant genes has been observed to be dependent on if the population is pathogenic or not, with pathogen communities having far higher proportions of mobile genetic elements. When antibiotic resistance is present in the environment, it is important to consider how human pathogens are interacting or integrated into those environments, and how antibiotic resistance is being exchanged there. For example, mouth bacteria can reach other parts of the body through the digestive and blood systems, and our saliva readily transfers bacteria to other people, so there are several ways for antibiotic resistant bacteria in the oral micriobiome to readily transfer their resistance genes to other, potentially pathogenic bacterial communities. Additionally, soil and pathogenic resistomes have been observed not to be distinct, so it’s essential that we understand environmental resistance in aquatic and other environments with high likelihood of human pathogen interaction. In the hyper-antibiotic resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa environmental stress key to the way its resistome is expressed; intrinsic, acquired,