# | Rank | Similarity | Title + Abs. | Year | PMID |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 6792 | 0 | 0.9815 | Parity in bacterial communities and resistomes: Microplastic and natural organic particles in the Tyrrhenian Sea. Petroleum-based microplastic particles (MPs) are carriers of antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs) in aquatic environments, influencing the selection and spread of antimicrobial resistance. This research characterized MP and natural organic particle (NOP) bacterial communities and resistomes in the Tyrrhenian Sea, a region impacted by plastic pollution and climate change. MP and NOP bacterial communities were similar but different from the free-living planktonic communities. Likewise, MP and NOP ARG abundances were similar but different (higher) from the planktonic communities. MP and NOP metagenome-assembled genomes contained ARGs associated with mobile genetic elements and exhibited co-occurrence with metal resistance genes. Overall, these findings show that MPs and NOPs harbor potential pathogenic and antimicrobial resistant bacteria, which can aid in the spread of antimicrobial resistance. Further, petroleum-based MPs do not represent novel ecological niches for allochthonous bacteria; rather, they synergize with NOPs, collectively facilitating the spread of antimicrobial resistance in marine ecosystems. | 2024 | 38759465 |
| 6439 | 1 | 0.9813 | A review: Marine aquaculture impacts marine microbial communities. Marine aquaculture is key for protein production but disrupts marine ecosystems by releasing excess feed and pharmaceuticals, thus affecting marine microbes. Though vital, its environmental impact often remains overlooked. This article delves into mariculture's effects on marine microbes, including bacteria, fungi, viruses, and antibiotic-resistance genes in seawater and sediments. It highlights how different mariculture practices-open, pond, and cage culture-affect these microbial communities. Mariculture's release of nutrients, antibiotics, and heavy metals alters the microbial composition, diversity, and functions. Integrated multi-trophic aquaculture, a promising sustainable approach, is still developing and needs refinement. A deep understanding of mariculture's impact on microbial ecosystems is crucial to minimize pollution and foster sustainable practices, paving the way for the industry's sustainable advancement. | 2024 | 38919720 |
| 6397 | 2 | 0.9812 | Microplastics and antibiotic resistance genes as rising threats: Their interaction represents an urgent environmental concern. Microplastics (MPs) have been reported to be emerging contaminant of different environmental niches like air, soil, and water. When exposed to these environments, MPs interact with already existing antibiotics to create combined pollution that can harm organisms. MPs have garnered significant attention in academic circles due to their ability to adsorb antibiotics. This review article explores different dimensions of MPs, antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), and the interplay between MPs, antibiotics, and antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB), emphasizing their interconnection with soil and water pollution. It also summarizes the mechanisms behind the interaction between antibiotics and MPs, detailing various physical and chemical interactions. Additionally, it outlines the pathways through which MPs and ARGs complexes spread, offering insights for future research and solutions to tackle compound pollution. The article concludes by providing targeted strategies to mitigate the environmental and public health risks posed by MP-associated ARG transmission, highlighting the need for integrated pollution control, advanced monitoring techniques, and stricter regulatory policies. | 2025 | 40756460 |
| 6790 | 3 | 0.9811 | Overlooked dissemination risks of antimicrobial resistance through green tide proliferation. Green tides, particularly those induced by Enteromorpha, pose significant environmental challenges, exacerbated by climate change, coastal eutrophication, and other anthropogenic impacts. More concerningly, these blooms may influence the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB) and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) within ecosystems. However, the manner in which Enteromorpha blooms affect the distribution and spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) remains uncertain. This study investigated ARG profiles, dynamic composition, and associated health risks within the Enteromorpha phycosphere and surrounding seawater in typical bays (Jiaozhou, Aoshan, and Lingshan) in the South Yellow Sea. The Enteromorpha phycosphere exhibited significantly higher ARG abundance (p < 0.05) but lower diversity compared to the surrounding seawater. Source-tracking and metagenomic analyses revealed that the phycosphere was the main contributor to the resistome of surrounding seawater. Moreover, resistant pathogens, especially ESKAPE pathogens, with horizontal gene transfer (HGT) potential, were more abundant in the phycosphere than in the surrounding seawater. The phycosphere released high-risk ARGs to the surrounding seawater during Enteromorpha blooms, posing serious health and ecological AMR risks in marine environments. This study highlights the significant role of Enteromorpha blooms in ARG spread and associated risks, urging a reassessment of AMR burden from a public health perspective. | 2025 | 39488061 |
| 6396 | 4 | 0.9811 | Interaction between microplastic biofilm formation and antibiotics: Effect of microplastic biofilm and its driving mechanisms on antibiotic resistance gene. As two pollutants with similar transport pathways, microplastics (MPs) and antibiotics (ATs) inevitably co-exist in water environments, and their interaction has become a topic of intense research interest for scholars over the past few years. This paper comprehensively and systematically reviews the current interaction between MPs and ATs, in particular, the role played by biofilm developed MPs (microplastic biofilm). A summary of the formation process of microplastic biofilm and its unique microbial community structure is presented in the paper. The formation of microplastic biofilm can enhance the adsorption mechanisms of ATs on primary MPs. Moreover, microplastic biofilm system is a diverse and vast reservoir of genetic material, and this paper reviews the mechanisms by which microplastics with biofilm drive the production of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and the processes that selectively enrich for more ARGs. Meanwhile, the enrichment of ARGs may lead to the development of microbial resistance and the gradual loss of the antimicrobial effect of ATs. The transfer pathways of ARGs affected by microplastic biofilm are outlined, and ARGs dependent transfer of antibiotic resistance bacteria (ARB) is mainly through horizontal gene transfer (HGT). Furthermore, the ecological implications of the interaction between microplastic biofilm and ATs and perspectives for future research are reviewed. This review contributes to a new insight into the aquatic ecological environmental risks and the fate of contaminants (MPs, ATs), and is of great significance for controlling the combined pollution of these two pollutants. | 2023 | 37517232 |
| 6398 | 5 | 0.9810 | The interplay between antimicrobial resistance, heavy metal pollution, and the role of microplastics. Environmental pollution with heavy metals (HMs) and microplastics (MPs) could enhance the global health challenge antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Herein, we explore the complicated mechanics of how HMs, MPs, and AMR are interlinked within microbial ecosystems, as well as the co-selection and cross-resistance mechanisms. Unlike antibiotics, HMs have influenced microbial evolution for billions of years, promoting resistance mechanisms that predate antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs). At the same time, this conundrum is further complicated by the pervasive spread of MPs in the aquatic and terrestrial environments, acting as substrates for bacterial pathogenic biofilms and accelerates the horizontal gene transfer (HGT) of ARGs and heavy metal resistance genes (MRGs). This review highlights that HMs such as lead (Pb), mercury (Hg), arsenic (As), chromium (Cr), cadmium (Cd), and nickel (Ni) have persistently selected for resistance traits through efflux systems and genetic co-regulation. Together, these interactions are amplified by MPs that create genetic exchange hotspots due to biofilm formation. These dynamics are modulated by organic matter, which serves both as a nutrient source and a mediator of HM bioavailability, directly influencing ARG abundance. Soil and water ecosystems, including riverine systems and landfill leachate, are reservoirs for ARGs and ARG-MRG combinations, with notable contributions originating from anthropogenic activities. This review also emphasizes the urgent need for integrated environmental and public health strategies to mitigate pollutant-driven AMR. This work seeks to approach HMs and MPs as synergistic drivers of AMR such that both HMs and MPs are upstream (causes) levers, a foundation from which future research on sustainable environmental management practices and health policy (One Health Approach), aimed at curbing the spread of resistance determinants can proceed. | 2025 | 40092036 |
| 6425 | 6 | 0.9809 | Freshwater plastisphere: a review on biodiversity, risks, and biodegradation potential with implications for the aquatic ecosystem health. The plastisphere, a unique microbial biofilm community colonizing plastic debris and microplastics (MPs) in aquatic environments, has attracted increasing attention owing to its ecological and public health implications. This review consolidates current state of knowledge on freshwater plastisphere, focussing on its biodiversity, community assembly, and interactions with environmental factors. Current biomolecular approaches revealed a variety of prokaryotic and eukaryotic taxa associated with plastic surfaces. Despite their ecological importance, the presence of potentially pathogenic bacteria and mobile genetic elements (i.e., antibiotic resistance genes) raises concerns for ecosystem and human health. However, the extent of these risks and their implications remain unclear. Advanced sequencing technologies are promising for elucidating the functions of plastisphere, particularly in plastic biodegradation processes. Overall, this review emphasizes the need for comprehensive studies to understand plastisphere dynamics in freshwater and to support effective management strategies to mitigate the impact of plastic pollution on freshwater resources. | 2024 | 38699475 |
| 6791 | 7 | 0.9808 | Microplastics in marine pollution: Oceanic hitchhikers for the global dissemination of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria. Microplastics (MPs) are globally anthropogenic contaminants of marine environments. Bacteria can colonize MPs forming biofilms that constitute the plastisphere. Carbapenem-resistant bacteria in plastisphere could be a hidden threat for marine life. The role of MPs in the spread of AMR bacteria/genes deserves global investigation. | 2025 | 40469541 |
| 6443 | 8 | 0.9808 | Understanding bacterial ecology to combat antibiotic resistance dissemination. The dissemination of antibiotic resistance from environmental sources is a growing concern. Despite the widespread occurrence of antibiotic resistance transmission events, there are actually multiple obstacles in the ecosystem that restrict the flow of bacteria and genes, in particular nonnegligible biological barriers. How these ecological factors help combat the dissemination of antibiotic resistance and relevant antibiotic resistance-diminishing organisms (ARDOs) deserves further exploration. This review summarizes the factors that influence the growth, metabolism, and environmental adaptation of antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB) and restrict the horizontal gene transfer (HGT) of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs). Additionally, this review discusses the achievements in the application of ARDOs to improve biotechnology for wastewater and solid waste remediation while highlighting current challenges limiting their broader implementation. | 2025 | 39855970 |
| 6449 | 9 | 0.9808 | Microbial regulation of natural antibiotic resistance: Understanding the protist-bacteria interactions for evolution of soil resistome. The emergence, evolution and spread of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in the environment represent a global threat to human health. Our knowledge of antibiotic resistance in human-impacted ecosystems is rapidly growing with antibiotic use, organic fertilization and wastewater irrigation identified as key selection pressures. However, the importance of biological interactions, especially predation and competition, as a potential driver of antibiotic resistance in the natural environment with limited anthropogenic disturbance remains largely overlooked. Stress-affected bacteria develop resistance to maximize competition and survival, and similarly bacteria may develop resistance to fight stress under the predation pressure of protists, an essential component of the soil microbiome. In this article, we summarized the major findings for the prevalence of natural ARGs on our planet and discussed the potential selection pressures driving the evolution and development of antibiotic resistance in natural settings. This is the first article that reviewed the potential links between protists and the antibiotic resistance of bacteria, and highlighted the importance of predation by protists as a crucial selection pressure of antibiotic resistance in the absence of anthropogenic disturbance. We conclude that an improved ecological understanding of the protists-bacteria interactions and other biological relationships would greatly expand our ability to predict and mitigate the environmental antibiotic resistance under the context of global change. | 2020 | 31818598 |
| 6420 | 10 | 0.9807 | Micro-interfacial behavior of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and antibiotic resistance genes in the soil environment: A review. Overutilization and misuse of antibiotics in recent decades markedly intensified the rapid proliferation and diffusion of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) within the environment, thereby elevating ARGs to the status of a global public health crisis. Recognizing that soil acts as a critical reservoir for ARGs, environmental researchers have made great progress in exploring the sources, distribution, and spread of ARGs in soil. However, the microscopic state and micro-interfacial behavior of ARGs in soil remains inadequately understood. In this study, we reviewed the micro-interfacial behaviors of antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB) in soil and porous media, predominantly including migration-deposition, adsorption, and biofilm formation. Meanwhile, adsorption, proliferation, and degradation were identified as the primary micro-interfacial behaviors of ARGs in the soil, with component of soil serving as significant determinant. Our work contributes to the further comprehension of the microstates and processes of ARB and ARGs in the soil environments and offers a theoretical foundation for managing and mitigating the risks associated with ARG contamination. | 2024 | 39180776 |
| 8612 | 11 | 0.9807 | Nano- and microplastics drive the dynamic equilibrium of amoeba-associated bacteria and antibiotic resistance genes. As emerging pollutants, microplastics have become pervasive on a global scale, inflicting significant harm upon ecosystems. However, the impact of these microplastics on the symbiotic relationship between protists and bacteria remains poorly understood. In this study, we investigated the mechanisms through which nano- and microplastics of varying sizes and concentrations influence the amoeba-bacterial symbiotic system. The findings reveal that nano- and microplastics exert deleterious effects on the adaptability of the amoeba host, with the magnitude of these effects contingent upon particle size and concentration. Furthermore, nano- and microplastics disrupt the initial equilibrium in the symbiotic relationship between amoeba and bacteria, with nano-plastics demonstrating a reduced ability to colonize symbiotic bacteria within the amoeba host when compared to their microplastic counterparts. Moreover, nano- and microplastics enhance the relative abundance of antibiotic resistance genes and heavy metal resistance genes in the bacteria residing within the amoeba host, which undoubtedly increases the potential transmission risk of both human pathogens and resistance genes within the environment. In sum, the results presented herein provide a novel perspective and theoretical foundation for the study of interactions between microplastics and microbial symbiotic systems, along with the establishment of risk assessment systems for ecological environments and human health. | 2024 | 38905974 |
| 8127 | 12 | 0.9807 | Microbial Multitrophic Communities Drive the Variation of Antibiotic Resistome in the Gut of Soil Woodlice (Crustacea: Isopoda). Multitrophic communities inhabit in soil faunal gut, including bacteria, fungi, and protists, which have been considered a hidden reservoir for antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs). However, there is a dearth of research focusing on the relationships between ARGs and multitrophic communities in the gut of soil faunas. Here, we studied the contribution of multitrophic communities to variations of ARGs in the soil woodlouse gut. The results revealed diverse and abundant ARGs in the woodlouse gut. Network analysis further exhibited strong connections between key ecological module members and ARGs, suggesting that multitrophic communities in the keystone ecological cluster may play a pivotal role in the variation of ARGs in the woodlouse gut. Moreover, long-term application of sewage sludge significantly altered the woodlice gut resistome and interkingdom communities. The variation portioning analysis indicated that the fungal community has a greater contribution to variations of ARGs than bacterial and protistan communities in the woodlice gut after long-term application of sewage sludge. Together, our results showed that changes in gut microbiota associated with agricultural practices (e.g., sewage sludge application) can largely alter the gut interkingdom network in ecologically relevant soil animals, with implications for antibiotic resistance, which advances our understanding of the microecological drivers of ARGs in terrestrial ecosystem. | 2022 | 35876241 |
| 8631 | 13 | 0.9806 | Bacterial metal(loid) resistance genes (MRGs) and their variation and application in environment: A review. Toxic metal(loid)s are widespread and permanent in the biosphere, and bacteria have evolved a wide variety of metal(loid) resistance genes (MRGs) to resist the stress of excess metal(loid)s. Via active efflux, permeability barriers, extracellular/intracellular sequestration, enzymatic detoxification and reduction in metal(loid)s sensitivity of cellular targets, the key components of bacterial cells are protected from toxic metal(loid)s to maintain their normal physiological functions. Exploiting bacterial metal(loid) resistance mechanisms, MRGs have been applied in many environmental fields. Based on the specific binding ability of MRGs-encoded regulators to metal(loid)s, MRGs-dependent biosensors for monitoring environmental metal(loid)s are developed. MRGs-related biotechnologies have been applied to environmental remediation of metal(loid)s by using the metal(loid) tolerance, biotransformation, and biopassivation abilities of MRGs-carrying microorganisms. In this work, we review the historical evolution, resistance mechanisms, environmental variation, and environmental applications of bacterial MRGs. The potential hazards, unresolved problems, and future research directions are also discussed. | 2023 | 36758696 |
| 8625 | 14 | 0.9805 | Marine viruses: truth or dare. Over the past two decades, marine virology has progressed from a curiosity to an intensely studied topic of critical importance to oceanography. At concentrations of approximately 10 million viruses per milliliter of surface seawater, viruses are the most abundant biological entities in the oceans. The majority of these viruses are phages (viruses that infect bacteria). Through lysing their bacterial hosts, marine phages control bacterial abundance, affect community composition, and impact global biogeochemical cycles. In addition, phages influence their hosts through selection for resistance, horizontal gene transfer, and manipulation of bacterial metabolism. Recent work has also demonstrated that marine phages are extremely diverse and can carry a variety of auxiliary metabolic genes encoding critical ecological functions. This review is structured as a scientific "truth or dare," revealing several well-established "truths" about marine viruses and presenting a few "dares" for the research community to undertake in future studies. | 2012 | 22457982 |
| 8647 | 15 | 0.9805 | Eco-evolutionary strategies for relieving carbon limitation under salt stress differ across microbial clades. With the continuous expansion of saline soils under climate change, understanding the eco-evolutionary tradeoff between the microbial mitigation of carbon limitation and the maintenance of functional traits in saline soils represents a significant knowledge gap in predicting future soil health and ecological function. Through shotgun metagenomic sequencing of coastal soils along a salinity gradient, we show contrasting eco-evolutionary directions of soil bacteria and archaea that manifest in changes to genome size and the functional potential of the soil microbiome. In salt environments with high carbon requirements, bacteria exhibit reduced genome sizes associated with a depletion of metabolic genes, while archaea display larger genomes and enrichment of salt-resistance, metabolic, and carbon-acquisition genes. This suggests that bacteria conserve energy through genome streamlining when facing salt stress, while archaea invest in carbon-acquisition pathways to broaden their resource usage. These findings suggest divergent directions in eco-evolutionary adaptations to soil saline stress amongst microbial clades and serve as a foundation for understanding the response of soil microbiomes to escalating climate change. | 2024 | 39019914 |
| 6934 | 16 | 0.9805 | Impact of protist predation on bacterial community traits in river sediments. Sediment-associated microbial communities are pivotal in driving biogeochemical processes and serve as key indicators of ecosystem health and function. However, the ecological impact of protist predation on these microbial communities remains poorly understood. Here, sediment microcosms were established with varying concentrations of indigenous protists. Results revealed that protist predation exerted strong and differential effects on the bacterial community composition, functional capabilities, and antibiotic resistance profiles. Higher levels of protist predation pressure increased bacterial alpha diversity and relative abundance of genera associated with carbon and nitrogen cycling, such as Fusibacter, Methyloversatilis, Azospirillum, and Holophaga. KEGG analysis indicated that protist predation stimulated microbial processes related to the carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur cycles. Notably, the relative abundance and associated health risks of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), virulence factor genes (VFGs), and mobile genetic elements (MGEs) were affected by predation pressure. Medium protist predation pressure increased the relative abundance and potential risks associated with ARGs, whereas high protist concentrations led to a reduction in both, likely due to a decrease in the relative abundance of ARG-hosting pathogenic bacteria such as Pseudomonas, Acinetobacter, and Aeromonas. These findings provide comprehensive insights into the dynamics of bacterial communities under protist predation in river sediment ecosystems. | 2025 | 40885182 |
| 6508 | 17 | 0.9805 | Synergizing Ecotoxicology and Microbiome Data Is Key for Developing Global Indicators of Environmental Antimicrobial Resistance. The One Health concept recognises the interconnectedness of humans, plants, animals and the environment. Recent research strongly supports the idea that the environment serves as a significant reservoir for antimicrobial resistance (AMR). However, the complexity of natural environments makes efforts at AMR public health risk assessment difficult. We lack sufficient data on key ecological parameters that influence AMR, as well as the primary proxies necessary for evaluating risks to human health. Developing environmental AMR 'early warning systems' requires models with well-defined parameters. This is necessary to support the implementation of clear and targeted interventions. In this review, we provide a comprehensive overview of the current tools used globally for environmental AMR human health risk assessment and the underlying knowledge gaps. We highlight the urgent need for standardised, cost-effective risk assessment frameworks that are adaptable across different environments and regions to enhance comparability and reliability. These frameworks must also account for previously understudied AMR sources, such as horticulture, and emerging threats like climate change. In addition, integrating traditional ecotoxicology with modern 'omics' approaches will be essential for developing more comprehensive risk models and informing targeted AMR mitigation strategies. | 2024 | 39611949 |
| 6447 | 18 | 0.9804 | Climate warming fuels the global antibiotic resistome by altering soil bacterial traits. Understanding the implications of global warming on the spread of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and virulence factor genes (VFGs) within soil ecosystems is crucial for safeguarding human well-being and sustaining ecosystem health. However, there is currently a lack of large-scale, systematic underpinning data needed to examine this issue. Here, using an integrative approach that combines field experiments, extensive global metagenomic data and microbial culturing, we show that warming enriches bacteria with ARGs and VFGs, increases metabolic complexity and adaptability in bacteria, and accelerates genetic alterations related to ARG and VFGs development. Our validation experiments confirm that the warming effect is more pronounced in colder regions. Machine learning predictions further suggest that warming will increase the soil ARG abundance, especially in some areas that rely heavily on fossil fuels. These results suggest another major negative consequence of global warming, highlighting the importance of developing and implementing sustainability policies that simultaneously combat climate change and antibiotic resistance. | 2025 | 40468041 |
| 9580 | 19 | 0.9803 | Antibiotic resistance in bacterial communities. Bacteria are single-celled organisms, but the survival of microbial communities relies on complex dynamics at the molecular, cellular, and ecosystem scales. Antibiotic resistance, in particular, is not just a property of individual bacteria or even single-strain populations, but depends heavily on the community context. Collective community dynamics can lead to counterintuitive eco-evolutionary effects like survival of less resistant bacterial populations, slowing of resistance evolution, or population collapse, yet these surprising behaviors are often captured by simple mathematical models. In this review, we highlight recent progress - in many cases, advances driven by elegant combinations of quantitative experiments and theoretical models - in understanding how interactions between bacteria and with the environment affect antibiotic resistance, from single-species populations to multispecies communities embedded in an ecosystem. | 2023 | 37054512 |