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Microplastic biofilm may shape microbial community enriched with antibiotic resistance genes to enhance nitrogen transformation under antibiotic stress
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This study found that biofilms growing on PVC microplastics in water helped remove nitrogen pollutants but also concentrated antibiotic resistance genes, with the same bacteria often carrying both pollution-cleaning and drug-resistance capabilities. The findings raise concerns that microplastic pollution in waterways could accelerate the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, which poses a growing threat to human health.
The response of nitrogen transformation to microplastic biofilm under antibiotics (ATs) stress as well as the interrelationships between functional genes and microorganisms in surface water are not very well understood and need further investigation. This study investigated the response of nitrogen transformation by analyzing changes in various nitrogen forms and explored the interaction between nitrogen transformation functions and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) under exposure to ATs (ciprofloxacin (CIP) and tetracycline (TC)) and PVC biofilm. Compared to the control, exposure to mature polyvinyl chloride (PVC) biofilm increased nitrate nitrogen (NO-N) and ammonia nitrogen (NH-N) removal by 12.48 % and 8.79 %, with the NO⁻-N removal rate constant reaching 0.17. However, co-exposure to CIP significantly inhibited nitrogen transformation, reducing the NO⁻-N removal rate constant to 0.08. In PVC biofilm, more active nitrogen transformation and enhanced horizontal transfer of ARGs led to a stronger positive correlation between nitrogen transformation genes (NTGs) and ARGs. Microorganisms carrying NTGs largely overlapped with ARGs host species, including Hydrogenophaga, Rhodococcus, and Ignavibacterium, which exhibited high abundance of both gene types. This indicated that PVC biofilm facilitated nitrogen transformation under ATs stress by enriching nitrogen transformation microorganisms carrying high ARGs abundance. These results extended knowledge of effects of ATs and microplastics (MPs) on nitrogen transformation in surface water and provided theoretical support for unique ecological effects of microplastic biofilm.
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Effects of polyvinyl chloride microplastics and benzylalkyldimethylethyl compounds on system performance, microbial community and resistance genes in sulfur autotrophic denitrification system
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Researchers found that PVC microplastics and a common disinfectant chemical in wastewater treatment systems promoted the spread of antibiotic resistance genes, with the disinfectant having an even stronger effect than the microplastics. The microplastic surfaces harbored disease-causing bacteria that carried these resistance genes. This is concerning because wastewater treatment plants could be releasing both microplastics and antibiotic-resistant pathogens into waterways, potentially threatening human health.
Growth and prevalence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in microplastic biofilm from wastewater treatment plant effluents
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Researchers studied antibiotic-resistant bacteria growing in biofilms on microplastic surfaces in wastewater treatment plant effluent. The study found that microplastic biofilms accumulated antibiotic-resistant bacteria including Pseudomonas, Aeromonas, and Bacillus, and that these biofilms harbored higher concentrations of resistance genes compared to surrounding water, suggesting microplastics may serve as reservoirs for antibiotic resistance.
Evidence of selective enrichment of bacterial assemblages and antibiotic resistant genes by microplastics in urban rivers
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Researchers sampled microplastics from two urban rivers in China and found that the bacterial communities colonizing plastic particles were distinctly different from those in the surrounding water. The microplastic-associated bacteria had lower diversity but higher proportions of biofilm-forming species and functions linked to human disease. Notably, the study found that microplastics selectively enriched antibiotic resistance genes, raising concerns about plastics serving as reservoirs for drug-resistant bacteria.
Microplastics in fresh- and wastewater are potential contributors to antibiotic resistance - A minireview
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Researchers reviewed the link between microplastic pollution and the spread of antibiotic resistance in freshwater environments, finding that microplastic surfaces host unique bacterial communities enriched in antibiotic-resistant bacteria and the resistance genes they can share with other microbes. The close packing of bacteria in these plastic-surface biofilms may accelerate the spread of drug-resistant pathogens through drinking water sources, though the full health implications remain poorly understood.
Microplastic pollution increases gene exchange in aquatic ecosystems
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Researchers found that microplastics in aquatic environments serve as surfaces where bacteria form biofilms and exchange genes at higher rates than free-living bacteria. The study demonstrated increased transfer of antibiotic resistance genes among a wide range of bacterial species growing on microplastic particles. The findings suggest that microplastic pollution could accelerate the spread of antibiotic resistance in waterways, posing a potential hazard to both ecosystems and human health.
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