@article{AriasAndresKluemperRojasJimenezetal.2018,
  author    = {Arias-Andres, Maria and Kluemper, Uli and Rojas-Jimenez, Keilor and Grossart, Hans-Peter},
  title     = {Microplastic pollution increases gene exchange in aquatic ecosystems},
  series = {Environmental pollution},
  volume    = {237},
  journal   = {Environmental pollution},
  publisher = {Elsevier},
  address   = {Oxford},
  issn      = {0269-7491},
  doi       = {10.1016/j.envpol.2018.02.058},
  pages     = {253 -- 261},
  year      = {2018},
  abstract  = {Pollution by microplastics in aquatic ecosystems is accumulating at an unprecedented scale, emerging as a new surface for biofilm formation and gene exchange. In this study, we determined the permissiveness of aquatic bacteria towards a model antibiotic resistance plasmid, comparing communities that form biofilms on microplastics vs. those that are free-living. We used an exogenous and red-fluorescent E. coli donor strain to introduce the green-fluorescent broad-host-range plasmid pKJKS which encodes for trimethoprim resistance. We demonstrate an increased frequency of plasmid transfer in bacteria associated with microplastics compared to bacteria that are free-living or in natural aggregates. Moreover, comparison of communities grown on polycarbonate filters showed that increased gene exchange occurs in a broad range of phylogenetically-diverse bacteria. Our results indicate horizontal gene transfer in this habitat could distinctly affect the ecology of aquatic microbial communities on a global scale. The spread of antibiotic resistance through microplastics could also have profound consequences for the evolution of aquatic bacteria and poses a neglected hazard for human health.},
  language  = {en}
}