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Polyethylene microplastic pollution drives quorum sensing-mediated enrichment of rhizosphere pathogens, resistance genes, and virulence factors genes
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Researchers studied how polyethylene microplastics in soil affect the root-associated microbiome of a medicinal plant and found dose-dependent increases in antibiotic resistance genes, virulence factors, and human pathogens. The microplastics appeared to promote quorum sensing, a bacterial communication system that helps coordinate these harmful traits. The findings suggest that microplastic soil pollution could amplify microbial risks in agricultural settings.
Microplastics are pervasive soil pollutants, yet their role in driving microbial risk in medicinal plant rhizospheres remains poorly understood. Using polyethylene microplastics (PE-MPs) as a model, this study investigated the dose-dependent effects of PE-MPs (0-1000 mg/kg) on the dynamics of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), biocide/metal resistance genes (BMRGs), virulence factor genes (VFGs), mobile genetic elements (MGEs), and human bacterial pathogens (HBPs) in the rhizosphere of Angelica sinensis. Results showed that PE-MPs exposure increased the abundance of these genes and pathogens while simplifying the host microbial community structure. Partial least squares path modeling (PLS-PM) revealed that PE-MPs directly reshaped microbial communities and indirectly promoted HBP proliferation by modulating quorum sensing (QS) networks. HBPs expansion further enriched ARGs, BMRGs, and VFGs and facilitated their spread via host restructuring. MGEs exhibited selective activation despite partial suppression of QS. This study uncovers a "PE-MPs pollution-QS modulation-HBPs expansion-Host restructuring-MGEs mediation" pathway, providing new insight into microbial adaptation and resistance dissemination under microplastic stress.
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