# | Rank | Similarity | Title + Abs. | Year | PMID |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 8487 | 0 | 0.9959 | Mechanisms of nano zero-valent iron in enhancing dibenzofuran degradation by a Rhodococcus sp.: Trade-offs between ATP production and protection against reactive oxygen species. Nano zero-valent iron (nZVI) can enhance pollutants biodegradation, but it displays toxicity towards microorganisms. Gram-positive (G(+)) bacteria exhibit greater resistance to nZVI than Gram-negative bacteria. However, mechanisms of nZVI accelerating pollutants degradation by G(+) bacteria remain unclear. Herein, we explored effects of nZVI on a G(+) bacterium, Rhodococcus sp. strain p52, and mechanisms by which nZVI accelerates biodegradation of dibenzofuran, a typical polycyclic aromatic compound. Electron microscopy and energy dispersive spectroscopy analysis revealed that nZVI could penetrate cell membranes, which caused damage and growth inhibition. nZVI promoted dibenzofuran biodegradation at certain concentrations, while higher concentration functioned later due to the delayed reactive oxygen species (ROS) mitigation. Transcriptomic analysis revealed that cells adopted response mechanisms to handle the elevated ROS induced by nZVI. ATP production was enhanced by accelerated dibenzofuran degradation, providing energy for protein synthesis related to antioxidant stress and damage repair. Meanwhile, electron transport chain (ETC) was adjusted to mitigate ROS accumulation, which involved downregulating expression of ETC complex I-related genes, as well as upregulating expression of the genes for the ROS-scavenging cytochrome bd complex and ETC complex II. These findings revealed the mechanisms underlying nZVI-enhanced biodegradation by G(+) bacteria, offering insights into optimizing bioremediation strategies involving nZVI. | 2025 | 39549579 |
| 8772 | 1 | 0.9959 | The role of drought response genes and plant growth promoting bacteria on plant growth promotion under sustainable agriculture: A review. Drought is a major stressor that poses significant challenges for agricultural practices. It becomes difficult to meet the global demand for food crops and fodder. Plant physiology, physico-chemistry and morphology changes in plants like decreased photosynthesis and transpiration rate, overproduction of reactive oxygen species, repressed shoot and root shoot growth and modified stress signalling pathways by drought, lead to detrimental impacts on plant development and output. Coping with drought stress requires a variety of adaptations and mitigation techniques. Crop yields could be effectively increased by employing plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR), which operate through many mechanisms. These vital microbes colonise the rhizosphere of crops and promote drought resistance by producing exopolysaccharides (EPS), 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate (ACC) deaminase and phytohormones including volatile compounds. The upregulation or downregulation of stress-responsive genes causes changes in root architecture due to acquiring drought resistance. Further, PGPR induces osmolyte and antioxidant accumulation. Another key feature of microbial communities associated with crops includes induced systemic tolerance and the production of free radical-scavenging enzymes. This review is focused on detailing the role of PGPR in assisting plants to adapt to drought stress. | 2024 | 39002396 |
| 8765 | 2 | 0.9958 | Pseudomonas chlororaphis IRHB3 assemblies beneficial microbes and activates JA-mediated resistance to promote nutrient utilization and inhibit pathogen attack. INTRODUCTION: The rhizosphere microbiome is critical to plant health and resistance. PGPR are well known as plant-beneficial bacteria and generally regulate nutrient utilization as well as plant responses to environmental stimuli. In our previous work, one typical PGPR strain, Pseudomonas chlororaphis IRHB3, isolated from the soybean rhizosphere, had positive impacts on soil-borne disease suppression and growth promotion in the greenhouse, but its biocontrol mechanism and application in the field are not unclear. METHODS: In the current study, IRHB3 was introduced into field soil, and its effects on the local rhizosphere microbiome, disease resistance, and soybean growth were comprehensively analyzed through high-throughput sequencing and physiological and molecular methods. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: We found that IRHB3 significantly increased the richness of the bacterial community but not the structure of the soybean rhizosphere. Functional bacteria related to phosphorus solubilization and nitrogen fixation, such as Geobacter, Geomonas, Candidatus Solibacter, Occallatibacter, and Candidatus Koribacter, were recruited in rich abundance by IRHB3 to the soybean rhizosphere as compared to those without IRHB3. In addition, the IRHB3 supplement obviously maintained the homeostasis of the rhizosphere microbiome that was disturbed by F. oxysporum, resulting in a lower disease index of root rot when compared with F. oxysporum. Furthermore, JA-mediated induced resistance was rapidly activated by IRHB3 following PDF1.2 and LOX2 expression, and meanwhile, a set of nodulation genes, GmENOD40b, GmNIN-2b, and GmRIC1, were also considerably induced by IRHB3 to improve nitrogen fixation ability and promote soybean yield, even when plants were infected by F. oxysporum. Thus, IRHB3 tends to synergistically interact with local rhizosphere microbes to promote host growth and induce host resistance in the field. | 2024 | 38380096 |
| 8767 | 3 | 0.9957 | Poly-γ-glutamic acid enhanced the drought resistance of maize by improving photosynthesis and affecting the rhizosphere microbial community. BACKGROUND: Compared with other abiotic stresses, drought stress causes serious crop yield reductions. Poly-γ-glutamic acid (γ-PGA), as an environmentally friendly biomacromolecule, plays an important role in plant growth and regulation. RESULTS: In this project, the effect of exogenous application of γ-PGA on drought tolerance of maize (Zea mays. L) and its mechanism were studied. Drought dramatically inhibited the growth and development of maize, but the exogenous application of γ-PGA significantly increased the dry weight of maize, the contents of ABA, soluble sugar, proline, and chlorophyll, and the photosynthetic rate under severe drought stress. RNA-seq data showed that γ-PGA may enhance drought resistance in maize by affecting the expression of ABA biosynthesis, signal transduction, and photosynthesis-related genes and other stress-responsive genes, which was also confirmed by RT-PCR and promoter motif analysis. In addition, diversity and structure analysis of the rhizosphere soil bacterial community demonstrated that γ-PGA enriched plant growth promoting bacteria such as Actinobacteria, Chloroflexi, Firmicutes, Alphaproteobacteria and Deltaproteobacteria. Moreover, γ-PGA significantly improved root development, urease activity and the ABA contents of maize rhizospheric soil under drought stress. This study emphasized the possibility of using γ-PGA to improve crop drought resistance and the soil environment under drought conditions and revealed its preliminary mechanism. CONCLUSIONS: Exogenous application of poly-γ-glutamic acid could significantly enhance the drought resistance of maize by improving photosynthesis, and root development and affecting the rhizosphere microbial community. | 2022 | 34979944 |
| 8830 | 4 | 0.9954 | Additive Effect of the Composition of Endophytic Bacteria Bacillus subtilis on Systemic Resistance of Wheat against Greenbug Aphid Schizaphis graminum Due to Lipopeptides. The use of biocontrol agents based on endophytic bacteria against phloem-feeding insects is limited by a lack of knowledge and understanding of the mechanism of action of the endophyte community that makes up the plant microbiome. In this work, the mechanisms of the additive action of endophytic strains B. subtilis 26D and B. subtilis 11VM on the resistance of bread spring wheat against greenbug aphid Schizaphis graminum, was studied. It was shown that B. subtilis 26D secreted lipopeptide surfactin and phytohormones cytokinins, and B. subtilis 11VM produced iturin and auxins into the cultivation medium. Both strains and their lipopeptide-rich fractions showed direct aphicidal activity against greenbug aphid. For the first time, it was shown that B. subtilis 26D and B. subtilis 11VM in the same manner, as well as their lipopeptide-rich fractions, activated the expression of salicylate- and ethylene-dependent PR genes, and influenced plant redox metabolism, which led to an increase in plant endurance against aphids. The composition of endophytic strains B. subtilis 26D + B. subtilis 11VM had an additive effect on plant resistance to aphids due to an increase in the number of endophytic bacterial cells, and, as well as due to the synergistic effect of their mixture of lipopeptides - surfactin + iturin, both on the aphid mortality and on the expression of PR1 and PR3 genes. All these factors can be the reason for the observed increase in the growth of plants affected by aphids under the influence of B. subtilis 26D and B. subtilis 11VM, individually and in composition. The study demonstrates the possibility of creating in the future an artificial composition to enhance plant microbiome with endophytic bacteria, which combines growth-promoting and plant immunity stimulating properties against phloem-feeding insects. This direction is one of the most promising approaches to green pesticide discovery in the future. | 2023 | 36676163 |
| 8488 | 5 | 0.9953 | Antihistamine drug loratadine at environmentally relevant concentrations promotes conjugative transfer of antibiotic resistance genes: Coeffect of oxidative stress and ion transport. Due to the widespread use of loratadine (LOR) as an antihistamine, it is widely distributed in the environment as an emerging contaminant. However, its impact on the dissemination of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) remains unclear. This study investigated the effect of LOR on the conjugative transfer of ARGs and elucidated the potential mechanisms through transcriptome analysis. The results showed that LOR significantly promoted the frequency of conjugative transfer up to 1.5- to 8.6-fold higher compared with the control group. Exposure to LOR increased reactive oxidative species (ROS) and intracellular Ca(2+) concentrations, leading to the upregulation of expression of genes related to transmembrane transport and SOS response. Meanwhile, it stimulated the increase of cell membrane permeability. Moreover, LOR exposure could enhance H(+) efflux in donor bacteria, resulting in the decrease of intracellular pH and the elevation of transmembrane potential, which could induce the increase of ion transport, thereby promoting plasmid efflux from the cell membrane. Based on this, we inferred that LOR can induce an increase in ROS level and intracellular Ca(2+) concentrations, and promoted the efflux of intracellular H(+). This, in turn, triggered the intensification of various ion transport processes on the cell membrane, thereby increasing membrane permeability and accelerating plasmid efflux. Ultimately, the coeffect of oxidative stress response and ion transport promoted conjugative transfer. This study demonstrated that LOR significantly promotes plasmid-mediated conjugative transfer of ARGs, providing novel insights into the mechanisms underlying this process. | 2025 | 39919578 |
| 8489 | 6 | 0.9952 | Signaling molecules accelerate the transmission of antibiotic resistance genes under the stress of copper. Heavy metals can accelerate the dissemination of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in aquatic environments by imposing environmental stresses. Signaling molecules play a role in bacterial communication and help bacteria adapt to environmental stresses. However, little is known whether the presence of signaling molecules has an effect on the spread of ARGs induced by heavy metals. In this study, we investigated how N-decanoyl-L-homoserine lactone (C10-HSL) affects copper-induced conjugative transfer of ARGs. We calculated the conjugative transfer frequency and measured reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, membrane permeability, and the expression of relevant genes. The results demonstrated that the addition of C10-HSL increased the conjugative transfer frequency of ARGs under copper ions (Cu(2+)) stress, showing a 7.2-fold increase under 0.5 μM Cu(2+) and 0.39 μM C10-HSL treatment compared to the control. This enhancement was associated with elevated intracellular ROS production and increased membrane permeability. The reduced conjugative transfer frequency under anaerobic conditions or with thiourea treatment supported the key role of ROS in this process. Furthermore, ROS overproduction triggered the SOS response, as evidenced by a 9-fold upregulation of recA expression. C10-HSL also modulated membrane-associated gene expression by upregulating outer membrane porins and downregulating efflux pump genes under Cu(2+)stress. This study provides a new insight into the spread of ARGs in aquatic environments. | 2025 | 40840413 |
| 8771 | 7 | 0.9951 | Plant Transcriptome Reprograming and Bacterial Extracellular Metabolites Underlying Tomato Drought Resistance Triggered by a Beneficial Soil Bacteria. Water deficit is one of the major constraints to crop production and food security worldwide. Some plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) strains are capable of increasing plant drought resistance. Knowledge about the mechanisms underlying bacteria-induced plant drought resistance is important for PGPR applications in agriculture. In this study, we show the drought stress-mitigating effects on tomato plants by the Bacillus megaterium strain TG1-E1, followed by the profiling of plant transcriptomic responses to TG1-E1 and the profiling of bacterial extracellular metabolites. Comparison between the transcriptomes of drought-stressed plants with and without TG1-E1 inoculation revealed bacteria-induced transcriptome reprograming, with highlights on differentially expressed genes belonging to the functional categories including transcription factors, signal transduction, and cell wall biogenesis and organization. Mass spectrometry-based analysis identified over 40 bacterial extracellular metabolites, including several important regulators or osmoprotectant precursors for increasing plant drought resistance. These results demonstrate the importance of plant transcriptional regulation and bacterial metabolites in PGPR-induced plant drought resistance. | 2021 | 34207663 |
| 8540 | 8 | 0.9951 | Metagenomic insights into the mechanism for the rapid enrichment and high stability of Candidatus Brocadia facilitated by Fe(Ⅲ). The rapid enrichment of anammox bacteria and its fragile resistance to adverse environment are the critical problems facing of anammox processes. As an abundant component in anammox bacteria, iron has been proved to promote the activity and growth of anammox bacteria in the mature anammox systems, but the functional and metabolic profiles in Fe(III) enhanced emerging anammox systems have not been evaluated. Results indicated that the relative abundance of functional genes involved in oxidative phosphorylation, nitrogen metabolism, cofactors synthesis, and extracellular polymers synthesis pathways was significantly promoted in the system added with 5 mg/L Fe(III) (R5). These enhanced pathways were crucial to energy generation, nitrogen removal, cell activity and proliferation, and microbial self-defense, thereby accelerating the enrichment of anammox bacteria Ca. Brocadia and facilitating their resistance to adverse environments. Microbial community analysis showed that the proportion of Ca. Brocadia in R5 also increased to 64.42 %. Hence, R5 could adapt rapidly to the increased nitrogen loading rate and increase the nitrogen removal rate by 108 % compared to the system without Fe(III) addition. However, the addition of 10 and 20 mg/L Fe(III) showed inhibitory effects on the growth and activity of anammox bacteria, which exhibited the lower relative abundance of Ca. Brocadia and unstable or even collapsed nitrogen removal performance. This study not only clarified the concentration range of Fe(III) that promoted and inhibited the enrichment of anammox bacteria, but also deepened our understanding of the functional and metabolic mechanisms underlying enhanced enrichment of anammox bacteria by Fe(III), providing a potential strategy to hasten the start-up of anammox from conventional activated sludge. | 2024 | 38309072 |
| 8803 | 9 | 0.9950 | Effects of chlorogenic acid-grafted-chitosan on biofilms, oxidative stress, quorum sensing and c-di-GMP in Pseudomonas fluorescens. This study determined the inhibitory mechanism as well as anti-biofilm activity of chlorogenic acid-grafted-chitosan (CS-g-CA) against Pseudomonas fluorescens (P. fluorescens) in terms of biofilm content, oxidative stress, quorum sensing and cyclic diguanosine monophosphate (c-di-GMP) concentration, and detected the changes in the expression levels of related genes by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). Results indicated that treatment with sub-concentrations of CS-g-CA for P. fluorescens led to reduce the biofilm size of large colonies, decrease the content of biofilm and extracellular polymers, weaken the motility and adhesion of P. fluorescens. Moreover, CS-g-CA resulted in higher ROS levels, diminished catalase activity (CAT), and increased superoxide dismutase (SOD) in P. fluorescens. CS-g-CA reduced the production of quorum-sensing signaling molecules (AHLs) and the concentration of c-di-GMP in bacteria. Genes for flagellar synthesis (flgA), the resistance to stress (rpoS and hfq), and pde (phosphodiesterases that degrade c-di-GMP) were significantly down-regulated as determined by RT-PCR. Overall, CS-g-CA leads to the accumulation of ROS in bacteria via P. fluorescens environmental resistance genes and decreases the activity of enzymes in the bacterial antioxidant system, and interferes with the production and reception of quorum-sensing signaling molecules and the synthesis of c-di-GMP in P. fluorescens, which regulates the generation of biofilms. | 2024 | 38852716 |
| 8150 | 10 | 0.9950 | ROS production during symbiotic infection suppresses pathogenesis-related gene expression. Leguminous plants have exclusive ability to form symbiotic relationship with soil bacteria of the genus Rhizobium. Symbiosis is a complex process that involves multiple molecular signaling activities, such as calcium fluxes, production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and synthesis of nodulation genes. We analyzed the role of ROS in defense gene expression in Medicago truncatula during symbiosis and pathogenesis. Studies in Arabidopsis thaliana showed that the induction of pathogenesis-related (PR) genes during systemic acquired resistance (SAR) is regulated by NPR1 protein, which resides in the cytoplasm as an oligomer. After oxidative burst and return of reducing conditions, the NPR1 undergoes monomerization and becomes translocated to the nucleus, where it functions in PR genes induction. We show that ROS production is both stronger and longer during symbiotic interactions than during interactions with pathogenic, nonhost or common nonpathogenic soil bacteria. Moreover, root cells inoculated with Sinorhizobium meliloti accumulated ROS in the cytosol but not in vacuoles, as opposed to Pseudomonas putida inoculation or salt stress treatment. Furthermore, increased ROS accumulation by addition of H₂O₂ reduced the PR gene expression, while catalase had an opposite effect, establishing that the PR gene expression is opposite to the level of cytoplasmic ROS. In addition, we show that salicylic acid pretreatment significantly reduced ROS production in root cells during symbiotic interaction. | 2012 | 22499208 |
| 8486 | 11 | 0.9950 | Multidrug-resistant plasmid modulates ammonia oxidation efficiency in Nitrosomonas europaea through cyclic di-guanylate and acyl-homoserine lactones pathways. Antibiotic resistance genes present a major public health challenge and have potential implications for global biogeochemical cycles. However, their impacts on biological nitrogen removal systems remain poorly understood. In the ammonia-oxidizing bacteria Nitrosomonas europaea ATCC 19718 harboring the multidrug-resistant plasmid RP4, a significant decrease in ammonia oxidation efficiency was observed, accompanied by markedly elevated levels of cyclic di-guanylate (c-di-GMP) and acyl-homoserine lactones (AHLs), compared to plasmid-free controls. The results demonstrated that c-di-GMP facilitates the secretion of AHLs, while elevated levels of AHLs inhibit the ammonia oxidation efficiency of Nitrosomonas europaea ATCC 19718. These results revealed that RP4 plasmid significantly impaired ammonia oxidation efficiency through the c-di-GMP and AHLs pathways. Our findings indicate that the multidrug-resistant plasmid RP4 adversely affects the nitrogen metabolism of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria, potentially disrupting the nitrogen biogeochemical cycle and posing substantial ecological and environmental risks. | 2026 | 40945801 |
| 8768 | 12 | 0.9949 | Selective regulation of endophytic bacteria and gene expression in soybean by water-soluble humic materials. BACKGROUND: As part of the plant microbiome, endophytic bacteria play an essential role in plant growth and resistance to stress. Water-soluble humic materials (WSHM) is widely used in sustainable agriculture as a natural and non-polluting plant growth regulator to promote the growth of plants and beneficial bacteria. However, the mechanisms of WSHM to promote plant growth and the evidence for commensal endophytic bacteria interaction with their host remain largely unknown. Here, 16S rRNA gene sequencing, transcriptomic analysis, and culture-based methods were used to reveal the underlying mechanisms. RESULTS: WSHM reduced the alpha diversity of soybean endophytic bacteria, but increased the bacterial interactions and further selectively enriched the potentially beneficial bacteria. Meanwhile, WSHM regulated the expression of various genes related to the MAPK signaling pathway, plant-pathogen interaction, hormone signal transduction, and synthetic pathways in soybean root. Omics integration analysis showed that Sphingobium was the genus closest to the significantly changed genes in WSHM treatment. The inoculation of endophytic Sphingobium sp. TBBS4 isolated from soybean significantly improved soybean nodulation and growth by increasing della gene expression and reducing ethylene release. CONCLUSION: All the results revealed that WSHM promotes soybean nodulation and growth by selectively regulating soybean gene expression and regulating the endophytic bacterial community, Sphingobium was the key bacterium involved in plant-microbe interaction. These findings refined our understanding of the mechanism of WSHM promoting soybean nodulation and growth and provided novel evidence for plant-endophyte interaction. | 2024 | 38178261 |
| 8541 | 13 | 0.9949 | Insights into the response of anammox process to oxytetracycline: Impacts of static magnetic field. The long-term effects of oxytetracycline (OTC) with a high concentration on the anaerobic ammonium oxidation (Anammox) process were evaluated, and the role of static magnetic field (SMF) was further explored. The stress of OTC at 50 mg/L had little effect on the nitrogen removal of anammox process at the first 16 days. With the continuous addition of OTC and the increase of nitrogen loading, the OTC inhibited the nitrogen removal and anammox activity severely. During the 32 days of recovery period without OTC addition, the nitrogen removal was further deteriorated, indicating the inhibition of OTC on anammox activity was irreversible and persistent. The application of SMF alleviated the inhibition of OTC on anammox to some extent, and the specific anammox activity was enhanced by 47.1% compared to the system without SMF during the OTC stress stage. Antibiotic efflux was the major resistance mechanism in the anammox process, and tetA, tetG and rpsJ were the main functional antibiotic resistance genes. The addition of OTC weakened the metabolic interactions between the anammox bacteria and the symbiotic bacteria involved in the metabolism of cofactors and secondary metabolites, leading to the poor anammox activity. The adaptability of microbes to the OTC stress was improved by the application of SMF, which can enhance the metabolic pathways related to bacterial growth and resistance to environmental stress. | 2023 | 37586490 |
| 9065 | 14 | 0.9949 | Gut Bacteria Promote Phosphine Susceptibility of Tribolium castaneum by Aggravating Oxidative Stress and Fitness Costs. Knowledge about resistance mechanisms can provide ideas for pesticide resistance management. Although several studies have unveiled the positive or negative impacts of gut microbes on host pesticide resistance, minimal research is available regarding the association between gut microbes and host phosphine resistance. To explore the influence of gut bacteria on host phosphine susceptibility and its molecular basis, mortality, fitness, redox responses, and immune responses of adult Tribolium castaneum were determined when it was challenged by phosphine exposure and/or gut bacteria inoculation. Five cultivable gut bacteria were excised from a population of phosphine-resistant T. castaneum. Among them, only Enterococcus sp. inoculation significantly promoted host susceptibility to phosphine, while inoculation of any other gut bacteria had no significant effect on host phosphine susceptibility. Furthermore, when T. castaneum was exposed to phosphine, Enterococcus sp. inoculation decreased the female fecundity, promoted host oxidative stress, and suppressed the expression and activity of host superoxide dismutase, catalase, and peroxidase. In the absence of phosphine, Enterococcus sp. inoculation also elicited overactive immune responses in T. castaneum, including the immune deficiency and Toll signaling pathways and the dual oxidase-reactive oxygen species system. These results indicate that Enterococcus sp. likely promotes host phosphine susceptibility by aggravating oxidative stress and fitness costs. | 2023 | 37887827 |
| 8538 | 15 | 0.9949 | Metagenomic ecotoxicity assessment of trace difenoconazole on freshwater microbial community. Difenoconazole, a typical triazole fungicide, inhibits the activity of cytochrome P450 enzyme in fungi, and is extensively used in protecting fruits, vegetables, and cereal crops. However, reports elucidating the effects of difenoconazole on aquatic microbial communities are limited. Our study showed that difenoconazole promoted microalgae growth at concentrations ranging from 0.1 to 5 μg/L, which was similar with its environmental residual concentrations. Metagenomic analysis revealed that the aquatic microbial structure could self-regulate to cope with difenoconazole-induced stress by accumulating bacteria exhibiting pollutant degrading abilities. In the short-term, several functional pathways related to xenobiotic biodegradation and analysis were upregulated to provide ability for aquatic microbial community to process xenobiotic stress. Moreover, most disturbed ecological functions were recovered due to the redundancy of microbial communities after prolonged exposure. Furthermore, the risks associated with the dissemination of antibiotic resistance genes were enhanced by difenoconazole in the short-term. Overall, our study contributes to a comprehensive understanding of the difenoconazole-induced ecological impacts and the behavior of aquatic microbial communities that are coping with xenobiotic stress. | 2022 | 35090847 |
| 8491 | 16 | 0.9949 | Hormesis-like effects of black phosphorus nanosheets on the spread of multiple antibiotic resistance genes. The production scalability and increasing demand for black phosphorus nanosheets (BPNSs) inevitably lead to environmental leakage. Although BPNSs' ecotoxicological effects have been demonstrated, their indirect health risks, such as inducing increased resistance in pathogenic bacteria, are often overlooked. This study explores the influence of BPNSs on the horizontal gene transfer of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) facilitated by the RP4 plasmid, which carries multiple resistance genes. The results indicated that BPNSs exhibited concentration-dependent hormesis-like effects on bacterial conjugation gene transfer. Specifically, at sub-inhibitory concentrations (0.0001-1 mg/L), BPNSs promoted both intra- and intergeneric conjugative transfer, demonstrating an initial increase followed by a decline, with transfer rates rising by 1.5-3.1-fold and 1.5-3.3-fold, respectively. BPNSs were found to induce reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, increase malondialdehyde levels, and trigger the SOS response, enhancing plasmid uptake. Additionally, BPNSs increased membrane permeability by forming pores and upregulating outer membrane porins (OMPs) genes. At higher BPNSs concentrations (0.1-1 mg/L), conjugative frequency was inhibited due to the disruption of the cellular antioxidant system and changes in the adsorption process. These findings underscore the influence of BPNSs on the conjugative transfer of ARGs, complementing current knowledge of the biotoxicity and potential ecological risks associated with BPNSs. | 2025 | 39827804 |
| 8596 | 17 | 0.9949 | Stringent response-mediated ferroptosis-like death resistance underlies Novosphingobium persistence during ciprofloxacin stress. Antibiotics, as emerging hazardous materials in the environment, pose significant risks to ecosystems and contribute to the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Although extensive knowledge has been accumulated on antibiotic-resistance mechanisms in individual bacteria, less is understood about how the bacterial communities respond to antibiotic exposure under natural environmental conditions, where nutrient supplies are often limited and fluctuating. Here, we report that Novosphingobium dominated in a wetland bacterial community under 1 µg/mL ciprofloxacin (CIP) exposure and persisted during DL-serine hydroxamate-induced starvation, where the stringent response alarmer (p)ppGpp was detected. Metagenome sequencing revealed that genes associated with siderophore transport, cytochrome c, and glutathione S-transferase were significantly enriched in Novosphingobium, linking its dominance under CIP stress to iron homeostasis and oxidative stress responses. Further study on the survival mechanism of Novosphingobium pentaromativorans US6-1 under 8 µg/mL CIP stress demonstrated that stringent response regulated the growth rate and maintained cell viability by suppressing the TCA cycle and oxidative phosphorylation, deterring the entry of CIP and siderophore into cells, reducing intracellular ferrous iron and malondialdehyde, and balancing cellular redox status, thereby protecting cells from ferroptosis-like death. This study is the first to report Novosphingobium's dominance and persistence in a bacterial community during CIP stress in natural environmental conditions and to propose the stringent response-mediated ferroptosis-like death resistance as one of its key survival mechanisms.IMPORTANCEAntibiotics in the environment are increasingly recognized as a new class of pollutants that accelerate the evolutionary selection of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. However, little is known about how this selection occurs under natural conditions, including how specific bacteria taxa and mechanisms respond to particular antibiotics. This study reveals for the first time the selection effect of CIP on Novosphingobium under nutrient-limited conditions, during which stringent response and iron homeostasis play important roles. An innovative linkage between stringent response and ferroptosis-like death resistance is proposed in N. pentaromativorans US6-1, which serves as the CIP resistance mechanism for Novosphingobium. These findings may help inform strategies to combat antimicrobial resistance in the natural environment. | 2025 | 40952106 |
| 8614 | 18 | 0.9949 | Polystyrene nanoparticles induce biofilm formation in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. In recent years, micro/nanoplastics have garnered widespread attention due to their ecological risks. In this study, we investigated the effects of polystyrene nanoparticles (PS-NPs) of different sizes on the growth and biofilm formation of Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1. The results demonstrated that exposure to certain concentrations of PS-NPs significantly promoted bacterial biofilm formation. Meanwhile, we comprehensively revealed its mechanism whereby PS-NPs induced oxidative stress and altered bacterial membrane permeability by contacting or penetrating bacterial membranes. To counteract the stimulation by PS-NPs and reduce their toxicity, bacteria enhanced biofilm formation by upregulating the expression of biofilm-related genes, increasing EPS and virulence factors secretion, and enhancing bacterial motility through the participation of the quorum sensing (QS) system. Additionally, we also found that exposure to PS-NPs enhanced bacterial antibiotic resistance, posing a challenge to antimicrobial therapy. Our study reveals the toxic effects of nanoplastics and the defense mechanisms of bacteria, which has important implications for the risk assessment and management of environmental nanoplastics. | 2024 | 38442601 |
| 7909 | 19 | 0.9949 | Simultaneous efficient removal of tetracycline and mitigation of antibiotic resistance genes enrichment by a modified activated sludge process with static magnetic field. To address the increasing issue of antibiotic wastewater, this study applied a static magnetic field (SMF) to the activated sludge process to increase the efficiency of tetracycline (TC) removal from swine wastewater and to reveal its enhanced mechanisms. The results demonstrated that the SMF-modified activated sludge process could achieve almost complete TC removal at sludge loading rates of 0.3 mg TC/g MLSS/d. Analysis of zeta potential and extracellular polymeric substances composition of the activated sludge revealed that SMF increased electrostatic interactions between TC and activated sludge and made activated sludge has much more binding sites, finally resulting in the increased TC biosorption. Metagenomic analysis showed that SMF promoted the enrichment of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria, TC-degrading bacteria, and aromatic compounds-degrading bacteria; it also enhanced ammonia monooxygenase- and cytochrome P450-mediated TC metabolism while upregulating functional genes associated with oxidase, reductase, and dehydrogenase - all contributing to increased TC biodegradation. Additionally, SMF mitigated the enrichment and spread of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) by decreasing the abundance of potential hosts of ARGs and inhibiting the upregulation of genes encoding ABC transporters and putative transposase. Based on these findings, this study demonstrates that magnetic field is an enhancement strategy with great potential to relieve the harmful impacts of the growing antibiotic wastewater problem on human health and the ecosystem. | 2024 | 39038424 |