Microplastic pollution increases gene exchange in aquatic ecosystems
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| Авторы: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Формат: | artículo original |
| Дата публикации: | 2018 |
| Описание: | 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 pKJK5 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. |
| Страна: | Kérwá |
| Институт: | Universidad de Costa Rica |
| Repositorio: | Kérwá |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:kerwa.ucr.ac.cr:10669/81675 |
| Online-ссылка: | https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0269749117349990?via%3Dihub https://hdl.handle.net/10669/81675 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Ключевое слово: | Microplastics Aquatic ecosystems Biofilm Horizontal gene transfer Antibiotic resistance |