Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:
https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12411/1141
Title: | Microplastic pollution increases gene exchange in aquatic ecosystems |
Authors: | Arias-Andres, Maria Klümper, Uli Rojas-Jimenez, Keilor Grossart, H.-P. |
Keywords: | microplastics aquatic ecosystems biofilm horizontal gene transfer antibiotic resistance |
Publisher: | Environmental Pollution |
Citation: | Arias-Andres, M., Klümper, U., Rojas-Jimenez, K., y Grossart, H.-P. (2018). Microplastic pollution increases gene exchange in aquatic ecosystems. Environmental Pollution, 237. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2018.02.058 |
Abstract: | 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 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. |
URI: | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2018.02.058 https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12411/1141 |
Appears in Collections: | Artículos publicados en revistas internacionales |
Files in This Item:
There are no files associated with this item.
This item is licensed under a Creative Commons License