Papers

20 results
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Article Tier 2

Microplastics: Hidden drivers of antimicrobial resistance in aquatic systems

This review examines how microplastics in aquatic environments serve as surfaces for biofilm formation, creating what researchers call the 'plastisphere,' which can harbor antibiotic-resistant bacteria and pathogens. Evidence indicates that microplastics facilitate the spread of antimicrobial resistance genes through water systems, potentially affecting both aquatic organisms and human health. The findings underscore microplastics as an overlooked driver of antibiotic resistance in waterways.

2025 NanoImpact 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics are a hotspot for antibiotic resistance genes: Progress and perspective

This review examines growing evidence that microplastics serve as hotspots for antibiotic resistance genes in the environment. Researchers found that microplastics selectively accumulate antibiotic-resistant bacteria and resistance genes on their surfaces across wastewater, aquatic, and terrestrial environments. The dense bacterial communities and concentrated pollutants on microplastic surfaces create favorable conditions for the spread and evolution of antibiotic resistance, raising concerns about potential risks to human health.

2021 The Science of The Total Environment 244 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic biofilm as hotspots of antibiotic resistance genes and potential pathogens

This review examined how microplastic biofilms—the plastisphere—serve as hotspots for antibiotic resistance gene (ARG) accumulation and potential pathogen enrichment. The authors described mechanisms by which microplastic surfaces promote horizontal gene transfer and bacterial community shifts that favor ARG-carrying strains, raising concern that microplastics accelerate the spread of antibiotic resistance in aquatic environments.

2025 npj Biofilms and Microbiomes
Article Tier 2

Are microplastic particles a hotspot for the spread and the persistence of antibiotic resistance in aquatic systems?

This review explores whether microplastic particles in water could serve as hotspots for antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Researchers found that microplastics host a unique microbial biofilm called the "plastisphere" that differs from surrounding water communities and may promote the survival and spread of resistant organisms. The study suggests that microplastics could act as carriers of antibiotic resistance genes, posing a potential threat to both environmental and human health.

2021 Environmental Pollution 102 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastisphere antibiotic resistance genes: A bird's-eye view on the plastic-specific diversity and enrichment

Microplastics in the environment act as surfaces for microbial communities called microplastispheres, which this review finds are enriched with antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs). The type of plastic, surrounding water chemistry, and co-occurring pollutants all influence which resistance genes accumulate, raising concern that microplastics could be spreading antibiotic resistance through aquatic environments worldwide.

2023 The Science of The Total Environment 11 citations
Article Tier 2

Comprehensive profiling and risk assessment of antibiotic resistomes in surface water and plastisphere by integrated shotgun metagenomics

Researchers used shotgun metagenomics to compare antibiotic resistance genes in surface water versus the biofilms that form on microplastic surfaces, known as the plastisphere. They found that microplastics harbored distinct microbial communities with different antibiotic resistance profiles compared to surrounding water. The study raises concerns that microplastics may serve as vehicles for spreading antibiotic resistance in aquatic environments.

2025 Journal of Hazardous Materials 13 citations
Article Tier 2

A review focusing on mechanisms and ecological risks of enrichment and propagation of antibiotic resistance genes and mobile genetic elements by microplastic biofilms

This review examines how microplastics in water serve as surfaces for bacterial biofilms that harbor antibiotic resistance genes. The biofilms that form on microplastic surfaces can spread resistance genes to other bacteria and potentially to organisms that ingest them, including fish and ultimately humans. The authors highlight that microplastic-associated antibiotic resistance is an underappreciated public health risk that needs more research.

2024 Environmental Research 24 citations
Article Tier 2

Biofilm formation on microplastics and interactions with antibiotics, antibiotic resistance genes and pathogens in aquatic environment

This review explains how microplastics in waterways develop bacterial biofilms on their surfaces that can harbor antibiotic-resistant bacteria and help spread antibiotic resistance genes to new environments. This is concerning for human health because these resistant microbes could eventually reach people through drinking water or seafood consumption.

2024 Eco-Environment & Health 63 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in fresh- and wastewater are potential contributors to antibiotic resistance - A minireview

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.

2022 Journal of Hazardous Materials Advances 31 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics: Disseminators of antibiotic resistance genes and pathogenic bacteria

This review examined the role of microplastics as carriers of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and pathogenic bacteria, analyzing how plastisphere biofilms concentrate and spread AMR through air, water, and soil environments. The evidence supports MPs as global vectors for antimicrobial resistance dissemination with implications for human health.

2025 Aquatic Toxicology
Article Tier 2

Growth and prevalence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in microplastic biofilm from wastewater treatment plant effluents

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.

2022 The Science of The Total Environment 51 citations
Article Tier 2

Antibiotic resistance in plastisphere

Researchers reviewed antibiotic resistance in the plastisphere — the microbial community colonizing plastic surfaces in aquatic environments — finding that plastic properties and aging influence the enrichment and horizontal transfer of antibiotic resistance genes, and that aged microplastics pose elevated risks due to increased adsorption of resistant bacteria.

2024 Journal of environmental chemical engineering 5 citations
Article Tier 2

[Pollution Situation and Transmission Risks of Antibiotic Resistance within the Plastisphere in the Aquatic Environment].

This review examines how microplastics serve as a new ecological niche for antibiotic-resistant bacteria in aquatic environments, creating what researchers call the plastisphere. Microplastics interact with heavy metals, antibiotics, and other pollutants while migrating through water systems and food chains, potentially accelerating the spread of antibiotic resistance genes. The study highlights the plastisphere as a hotspot for resistance gene transfer, posing threats to both human health and urban ecosystems.

2026 PubMed
Article Tier 2

The Microplastic-Antibiotic Resistance Connection

This review examined the link between microplastic pollution and antibiotic resistance, finding that microplastic surfaces in the environment selectively enrich antibiotic-resistant bacteria and resistance genes, creating hotspots that may amplify the spread of resistance far beyond clinical settings.

2021 Environmental contamination remediation and management 24 citations
Article Tier 2

Selective enrichment of antibiotic resistome and bacterial pathogens by aquatic microplastics

This review found that microplastics in aquatic environments selectively enrich antibiotic-resistant bacteria, resistance genes, and bacterial pathogens in their biofilms, making plastic debris a potential vector for spreading antimicrobial resistance.

2022 Journal of Hazardous Materials Advances 27 citations
Article Tier 2

Plastisphere as a Vector for Pathogenic Microbes and Antibiotic Resistance

This review examines how the plastisphere, the microbial community that colonizes plastic surfaces, serves as a vector for pathogenic bacteria and antibiotic resistance genes. Researchers found that microplastics can adsorb antibiotics and facilitate higher rates of plasmid transfer among bacteria, with potentially pathogenic species carrying multi-drug resistance genes identified on plastic surfaces.

2025 1 citations
Article Tier 2

DeterminingAntimicrobial Resistance in the Plastisphere:Lower Risks of Nonbiodegradable vs Higher Risks of Biodegradable Microplastics

Researchers determined the prevalence and diversity of antimicrobial resistance genes in the plastisphere (biofilm on microplastics) compared to surrounding water and sediment, finding that non-biodegradable plastics hosted distinct resistance gene profiles with lower overall resistance risk than biodegradable plastic surfaces.

2025 Figshare
Article Tier 2

Selection for antimicrobial resistance in the plastisphere

This review examines how microplastics in the environment may contribute to the spread of antimicrobial resistance by providing surfaces where bacteria, antibiotics, and resistant genes converge. Researchers describe several mechanisms by which the microbial communities living on microplastics, known as the plastisphere, could accelerate horizontal gene transfer of resistance traits. The study highlights an emerging concern at the intersection of plastic pollution and the global antimicrobial resistance crisis.

2023 The Science of The Total Environment 24 citations
Meta Analysis Tier 1

Microplastisphere may induce the enrichment of antibiotic resistance genes on microplastics in aquatic environments: A review

This first meta-analysis of antibiotic resistance gene (ARG) enrichment on microplastics found that ARGs were more abundant on microplastic surfaces than on inorganic substrates or in surrounding water, but less abundant than on natural organic substrates. Freshwater microplastics showed a higher degree of ARG enrichment than those in saline water or sewage.

2022 Environmental Pollution 76 citations
Article Tier 2

Fates of extracellular and intracellular antibiotic resistance genes in activated sludge and plastisphere under sulfadiazine pressure

Researchers found that microplastics in wastewater treatment systems act as reservoirs for antibiotic resistance genes, with the plastic surfaces (plastisphere) harboring more resistance genes than the surrounding sludge. When exposed to the antibiotic sulfadiazine, the spread of resistance genes on microplastic surfaces increased, and DNA from potential pathogens was detected. This suggests that microplastics leaving wastewater treatment plants could carry drug-resistant bacteria into waterways, posing a risk to public health.

2023 Water Research 41 citations