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Scientists at the Institute of Nano Science and Technology, Mohali, an autonomous institute of the Department of Science and Technology, have found that nanoplastics derived from single-use plastic bottles can promote antibiotic resistance. Amid growing concerns about the combined threats of plastic pollution and antibiotic resistance, the new study published in the journal Nanoscale highlights an unknown public health risk.
The research said that nano plastics and microorganisms coexist in diverse environments, including the human gut, which affect health. In the research, the team explored how plastic nano particles can affect bacteria. They focused on Lactobacillus acidophilus, which plays a central role in the gut microbiota.
Harmful to health-
Dr Manish Singh and his team have investigated whether nanoplastics can transform beneficial bacteria into carriers of antibiotic-resistant genes and pose a risk to human gut microbiome health.
They used plastic bottles to synthesize environmentally relevant nanoplastic particles, as these nanoplastics derived from polyethylene terephthalate bottles better represent actual nanoplastics generated due to the dumping of single-use plastic bottles and containers.
Scientists demonstrated that PBNP can facilitate cross-species gene transfer from E. coli to Lactobacillus acidophilus through a process called horizontal gene transfer (HGT). This occurs specifically through outer membrane vesicle (OMV) secretion in bacteria.
He explained that there are two new mechanisms through which PBNPs facilitate antibiotic resistance gene transfer. One of them is through the direct transformation pathway in which PBNPs act as physical carriers that transport antibiotic resistance plasmids across bacterial membranes and promote direct gene transfer between bacteria.
Bacteria damage surfaces by-
The second route is through the OMV induced transfer pathway, in which PBNP causes oxidative stress and damage to bacterial surfaces, which activates stress response genes and triggers an increase in outer membrane vesicle (OMV) secretion.
These OMVs loaded with antibiotic resistance genes become powerful vectors for gene transfer across bacterial species, facilitating the spread of antibiotic resistance genes even to unrelated bacteria. This highlights an important and previously overlooked dimension of the effects of nanoplastics on microbial communities.
The study highlights how nanoplastics may unexpectedly contribute to the antibiotic resistance crisis by incorporating antibiotic resistance genes into beneficial gut bacteria such as Lactobacillus acidophilus, which can then transfer these genes to pathogens.
This indicates that beneficial bacteria such as Lactobacillus acidophilus may act as reservoirs for antibiotic resistance genes, which can then transfer these genes to pathogenic bacteria during infection.
