Ubiquitous nanocolloids suppress the conjugative transfer of plasmid-mediated antibiotic resistance in aqueous environment
Abstract
Nanocolloids (Nc) are widespread in natural water environment, whereas the potential effects of Nc on dissemination of antibiotic resistance remain largely unknown. In this study, Nc collected from the Yellow River in Henan province was tested for its ability to influence the conjugative transfer of resistant plasmid in aqueous environment. The results revealed that the conjugative transfer of RP4 plasmid between Escherichia coli was down-regulated by 52%-91% upon exposure to 1-10 mg/L Nc and the reduction became constant when the dose became higher (20-200 mg/L). Despite the exposure of Nc activated the anti-oxidation and SOS response in bacteria through up-regulating genes involved in glutathione biosynthesis and DNA recombination, the inhibition on the synthesis and secretion of extracellular polysaccharide induced the prevention of cell-cell contact, leading to the reduction of plasmid transfer. This was evidenced by the decreased bacterial adhesion and lowered levels of genes and metabolites relevant to transmembrane transport and D-glucose phosphorylation, as clarified in phenotypic, transcriptomics and metabolomics analysis of E. coli. The significant down-regulation of glycolysis/gluconeogenesis and TCA cycle was associated with the shortage of ATP induced by Nc. The up-regulation of global regulatory genes (korA and trbA) and the reduction of plasmid genes (trfAp, trbBp, and traG) expression also contributed to the suppressed conjugation of RP4 plasmid. The obtained findings remind that the role of ubiquitous colloidal particles is nonnegligible when practically and comprehensively assessing the risk of antibiotic resistance in the environment.
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ERY-induced decline of A. platensis populations could disrupt the food supply for primary consumers, triggering cascading ecological consequences.
“The decline of A. platensis populations due to ERY exposure could have far-reaching effects on aquatic ecosystems, particularly by disrupting the food supply for primary consumers that depend on cyanobacteria as a key nutritional source.”
From Integrated morpho-physiological and biochemical description of the mechanisms leading stress responses in cyanobacteria (Arthrospira platensis) upon exposure to Erythromycin (2025) · cites this paper as Jin et al. 2024
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- Authors
- Jin, C., Yang, S., Ma, H., Zhang, X., Zhang, K., & Zou, W.
- Affiliations
- Henan Normal University (CN)
- Xinyang Normal University (CN)
- Corresponding author
- Zou, Wei
- Venue
- Environmental Pollution
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2024-08
- Volume
- 355
- Pages
- 124231
- ISSN
- 0269-7491 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W4398793723
- Cited by
- 5
- References
- 57
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 2
- FWCI
- 0.50
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- Locations
- Environmental Pollution (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Henan Provincial Science and Technology Research Project (222102320227)
- National Natural Science Foundation of China (42377280)
- Henan Province Natural Science Foundation (232300421102)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Pollution › Pharmaceutical and Antibiotic Environmental Impacts
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Medicine › Antibiotic Resistance in Bacteria
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Bacterial Genetics and Biotechnology
- Keywords
- nanocolloids, plasmid-mediated antibiotic resistance, conjugative transfer, RP4 plasmid, Escherichia coli, Yellow River, exopolysaccharides, bacterial adhesion, SOS response, glutathione synthesis, glycolysis/gluconeogenesis, TCA cycle, energy limitation, antibiotic resistance dissemination, environmental risk assessment
- MeSH terms
- Anti-Bacterial Agents, Colloids, Conjugation, Genetic, Drug Resistance, Microbial, Escherichia coli, Plasmids, Drug Resistance, Bacterial
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