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Decision: A comparative, multi-study analysis of plastisphere communities, plasmid dynamics, and antibiotic resistance genes — R0/PR5
Original title: Decision: A comparative, multi-study analysis of plastisphere communities, plasmid dynamics, and antibiotic resistance genes — R0/PR5
Summary
Tiny plastic particles floating in oceans and rivers aren't just pollution—they're also rafts for bacteria, and this study found that many of these microbial hitchhikers carry mobile genetic elements capable of spreading antibiotic resistance to other bacteria. The researchers identified specific "conjugative" plasmids (DNA that can transfer between bacteria) that were especially good at linking multiple antibiotic-resistance genes together on microplastic surfaces. This matters because as microplastics travel through waterways and potentially into our food and water supply, they could be helping antibiotic-resistant bacteria spread
Microplastics are widespread in aquatic environments and support surface-associated microbial communities. Although antimicrobial resistance in the plastisphere has been reported, the organization of resistance genes across plasmid types and mobility categories on microplastic surfaces remains incompletely characterized. In this study, we analyzed published microplastic biofilm metagenomes to examine microbial community structure, plasmid replicon diversity, predicted mobility, and antimicrobial resistance genes (ARG) distributions across microplastics from various global locations. Phylum-level taxonomic profiles varied by geography, but most plastisphere communities were dominated by Pseudomonadota. Core microbiome analysis revealed several genera within the Pseudomonadota (Paracoccus, Pseudomonas, Sphingomonas, Sulfitobacter, Vibrio, Mesorhizobium, Rhizobium, Bradyrhizobium, Roseovarius, and Hyphomonas) as members of the plastisphere core. Plasmid reconstruction revealed differences in predicted mobility profiles, with conjugative plasmids frequently identified in the polyethylene, polypropylene, and polyvinyl chloride samples. A co-occurrence analysis of plasmid mobility, replicons, and ARG showed that conjugative plasmids connected a broader range of replicons to multiple ARG classes than mobilizable or non-mobilizable plasmids. IncFIB and IncFII replicons were prominent with high ARG co-occurrence. Additionally, several less-characterized rep_cluster replicons were detected across microplastic types, indicating diverse and understudied plasmid backbones within plastisphere communities, underscoring the importance of considering plasmid context when evaluating plastisphere resistomes.