Abstract: In this study, metagenomic sequencing technology was employed to analyze water and sediment samples collected from Laizhou Bay during the dry season (May) and wet season (August) of 2022, aiming to explore the seasonal distribution characteristics of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and their influencing factors. A total of 19 534 sequences belonging to 311 ARG subtypes were identified, involving 28 classes of antibiotics including elfamycin, fluoroquinolones and aminoglycosides. In terms of the number of detected ARG subtypes, the samples ranked in descending order were: wet-season water, dry-season water, wet-season sediment and dry-season sediment. As for the relative abundance of ARGs, the samples ranked in descending order were: wet-season sediment, dry-season sediment, wet-season water, and dry-season water. The distribution of ARGs was significantly correlated with multiple environmental factors, such as pH and salinity. Moreover, the distribution of certain ARGs showed significant correlations with mobile genetic elements (MGEs), such as plasmids, integrons and insertion sequences (IS), and the correlations between ARGs and MGEs exhibited seasonal differences. Further analysis of metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) showed that ARG hosts in water samples were mainly affiliated with Pseudomonadota and Bacteroidota, while those in sediment samples primarily belonged to Pseudomonadota and Desulfobacterota. The findings on seasonal distribution of ARGs in this study can provide scientific data for environmental management and ecological risk assessment in this region.