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61,005 resultsShowing papers similar to Horizontal Gene Transfer of Antibiotic Resistance Genes in Biofilms
ClearBiofilms: hot spots of horizontal gene transfer (HGT) in aquatic environments, with a focus on a new HGT mechanism
This review covers horizontal gene transfer in aquatic biofilms, with emphasis on antibiotic resistance gene spread, and introduces membrane vesicles as a newly recognized HGT mechanism by which bacteria share genetic material, with implications for understanding resistance spread on microplastic surfaces.
Microplastics and their role in the emergence of antibiotic resistance in bacteria as a threat for the environment
Researchers reviewed how microplastics act as breeding grounds for antibiotic-resistant bacteria by providing surfaces where bacteria can swap resistance genes with each other — a process called horizontal gene transfer. This dual threat of plastic pollution and antibiotic resistance is compounding into a significant global public health crisis.
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.
Microplastic biofilms promote the horizontal transfer of antibiotic resistance genes in estuarine environments
Researchers compared how effectively antibiotic resistance genes transfer between bacteria floating freely in water versus bacteria living in biofilms on microplastic surfaces. They found that microplastic biofilms significantly enhanced the transfer of resistance genes compared to free-floating bacteria, with factors like extracellular DNA and cell membrane permeability playing key roles. The study suggests that microplastics in estuaries may act as hotspots for spreading antibiotic resistance in the environment.
Current examining methods and mathematical models of horizontal transfer of antibiotic resistance genes in the environment
This review examines the methods used to study how antibiotic resistance genes spread between bacteria in the environment through a process called horizontal gene transfer. While not specifically about microplastics, this is directly relevant because microplastics have been shown to serve as platforms that promote the transfer of antibiotic resistance genes between bacteria, potentially accelerating the spread of drug-resistant infections.
Investigating Biofilms: Advanced Methods for Comprehending Microbial Behavior and Antibiotic Resistance
This review summarizes recent advances in biofilm research, focusing on how communities of microorganisms form protective layers on surfaces and become resistant to antibiotics. The sticky matrix that holds biofilms together plays a key role in spreading antibiotic resistance genes between bacteria. While not directly about microplastics, the findings are relevant because microplastics in the environment serve as surfaces where these resistant biofilms can form and spread.
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.
Microplastic-Mediated Dissemination of Antibiotic Resistance Genes in Marine Environments: Mechanisms, Environmental Modulators, and Emerging Risks
This review examines how microplastics serve as vectors for spreading antibiotic resistance genes in marine environments through biofilm formation and horizontal gene transfer. Researchers found that plastic surfaces promote colonization by resistant bacteria, and environmental factors like salinity, UV exposure, and co-occurring heavy metals further accelerate the spread of resistance genes, posing significant ecological and public health risks.
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.
Microplastics as emerging reservoirs of antimicrobial resistance: Clinical relevance and environmental mechanisms
This review examines how microplastics act as environmental reservoirs for antibiotic resistance genes, creating selective microenvironments through antibiotic and metal adsorption, biofilm formation, and horizontal gene transfer, with potential pathways to clinical human exposure.
Microplastics pollution in the ocean: Potential carrier of resistant bacteria and resistance genes
This review examined microplastics in marine environments as carriers of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and resistance genes, finding that plastic surfaces selectively enrich resistance genes through horizontal gene transfer and co-selection pressure, making ocean microplastics a vector for resistance dissemination across ecosystems.
Unraveling the effect of micro/nanoplastics on the occurrence and horizontal transfer of environmental antibiotic resistance genes: Advances, mechanisms and future prospects
This review examines how micro- and nanoplastics promote the spread of antibiotic resistance genes in the environment. The tiny plastic particles create conditions that help bacteria exchange resistance genes more easily by generating oxidative stress, making cell membranes more permeable, and providing surfaces where resistant bacteria can form communities. This is a growing public health concern because antibiotic-resistant infections are increasingly difficult to treat.
Microbubble-microplastic interactions in batch air flotation
Researchers explored the role of microplastics as carriers of antibiotic resistance genes in aquatic environments, finding that plastic surfaces harbor higher densities of resistance genes than surrounding water. Biofilm formation on microplastics appears to facilitate horizontal gene transfer.
Conjugative antibiotic-resistant plasmids promote bacterial colonization of microplastics in water environments
Antibiotic-resistant bacteria carrying conjugative plasmids were shown to more effectively colonize microplastic surfaces in water environments, with plasmid transfer rates on plastic surfaces exceeding those in the surrounding water. The study identifies microplastics as hotspots for the spread of antibiotic resistance genes through horizontal gene transfer in aquatic systems.
Antagonistic effects of microplastic biofilms on antibiotic resistance gene horizontal transfer in water environments
Microplastics in water environments accumulate bacteria on their surfaces, forming biofilms that were long assumed to accelerate the spread of antibiotic resistance genes between microbes. This study challenges that assumption by showing that microplastic biofilms can actually reduce the rate of antibiotic resistance gene transfer compared to free-floating bacteria — dampening both the promoting effect of certain chemicals and the inhibiting effect of others. The finding adds important nuance to the debate about microplastics as vectors for antibiotic resistance, suggesting the relationship is more complex than a simple amplifier.
From Interface to Cell: The Complex Interaction and Transfer Process Coupling Mechanism between Microplastics and Antibiotic Resistance Genes
Researchers examined how microplastic surfaces act as vectors for spreading antibiotic resistance genes in wastewater treatment systems. The study found that aged microplastics of PET, PE, and PP promoted bacterial adhesion, enhanced horizontal gene transfer, and triggered overproduction of reactive oxygen species, ultimately amplifying the spread of antimicrobial resistance through multiple molecular mechanisms.
How micro-/nano-plastics influence the horizontal transfer of antibiotic resistance genes - A review
This review examines how micro- and nanoplastics help spread antibiotic resistance genes between bacteria -- a major global health threat. The tiny plastic particles can act as platforms where bacteria exchange DNA carrying drug-resistance instructions, potentially making infections harder to treat. The effect depends on the type, size, and concentration of plastics, and has been documented in sewage, livestock farms, and landfills.
Microplastics and Their Role in the Maintenance and Spread of Antibiotic Resistance Genes in Marine Ecosystems
This review examines the role of microplastics in maintaining and spreading antibiotic resistance genes in marine ecosystems, synthesizing evidence that plastic pollution in aquatic environments creates reservoirs for antimicrobial resistant bacteria and facilitates horizontal gene transfer.
[Influencing Factors and Mechanisms of Antibiotic Resistance Gene Enrichment by Microplastics in the Environment].
This review examines how microplastics in the environment serve as carriers for antibiotic resistance genes, enriching and spreading resistant bacteria across air, soil, water, and sediments. Researchers found that the type, surface characteristics, and aging of microplastics all influence how effectively they accumulate resistance genes and facilitate horizontal gene transfer. The findings highlight the need to consider microplastics as an important vector in the environmental spread of antibiotic resistance.
Interaction between microplastic biofilm formation and antibiotics: Effect of microplastic biofilm and its driving mechanisms on antibiotic resistance gene
This review explores how microplastics in water environments develop biofilms that interact with antibiotics in concerning ways. Researchers found that biofilm-coated microplastics can enhance the adsorption of antibiotics and serve as hotspots for antibiotic resistance genes. The study highlights the risk that microplastic biofilms could accelerate the spread of antibiotic resistance through aquatic ecosystems.
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.
Microplastic biofilm: An important microniche that may accelerate the spread of antibiotic resistance genes via natural transformation
Researchers discovered that biofilms forming on microplastics can accelerate the spread of antibiotic resistance genes through a process called natural transformation. They found that transformation rates on microplastic surfaces were up to 1,000 times higher than on natural substrates. The study suggests that microplastic pollution may create hotspots where bacteria more readily pick up and share genes for antibiotic resistance.
Review of the Presence and Phage-Mediated Transfer of ARGs in Biofilms
This review summarizes how bacterial communities that form protective films (biofilms) on surfaces -- including microplastics -- serve as reservoirs for antibiotic resistance genes that can spread to other bacteria. The paper highlights that viruses called bacteriophages can transfer these resistance genes between bacteria within biofilms, potentially accelerating the spread of drug-resistant infections that are increasingly difficult to treat.
[Research progress on the effect of estuary microplastics on antibiotic resistance genes].
This review summarizes research on how microplastics in estuarine environments influence the spread of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), focusing on the role of biofilms that form on plastic surfaces. Microplastic biofilms selectively enrich ARG-carrying bacteria and facilitate horizontal gene transfer, increasing the risk of antibiotic resistance dissemination in ecologically and humanly important estuarine zones.