Microplastic pollution increases gene exchange in aquatic ecosystems
- 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 antibioticPollution 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.…
Author details: | Maria Arias-AndresORCiDGND, Uli Kluemper, Keilor Rojas-JimenezORCiDGND, Hans-Peter GrossartORCiDGND |
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DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2018.02.058 |
ISSN: | 0269-7491 |
ISSN: | 1873-6424 |
Pubmed ID: | https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29494919 |
Title of parent work (English): | Environmental pollution |
Publisher: | Elsevier |
Place of publishing: | Oxford |
Publication type: | Article |
Language: | English |
Date of first publication: | 2018/02/28 |
Publication year: | 2018 |
Release date: | 2021/11/22 |
Tag: | Antibiotic resistance; Aquatic ecosystems; Biofilm; Horizontal gene transfer; Microplastics |
Volume: | 237 |
Number of pages: | 9 |
First page: | 253 |
Last Page: | 261 |
Funding institution: | Universidad Nacional, Costa Rica; Leibniz SAW project MikrOMIK; MRC/BBSRCMedical Research Council UK (MRC)Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) [MR/N007174/1]; European UnionEuropean Union (EU) [751699] |
Organizational units: | Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät / Institut für Biochemie und Biologie |
DDC classification: | 5 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik / 57 Biowissenschaften; Biologie / 570 Biowissenschaften; Biologie |
Peer review: | Referiert |
Publishing method: | Open Access / Green Open-Access |