# | Rank | Similarity | Title + Abs. | Year | PMID |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 8625 | 0 | 0.9887 | 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 |
| 9371 | 1 | 0.9885 | Coevolutionary history of predation constrains the evolvability of antibiotic resistance in prey bacteria. Understanding how the historical contingency of biotic interactions shapes the evolvability of bacterial populations is imperative for the predictability of the eco-evolutionary dynamics of microbial communities. While microbial predators like Myxococcus xanthus influence the frequency of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in nature, the effect of adaptation to the presence of predators on the evolvability of prey bacteria to future stressors is unclear. Hence, to understand the influence of the coevolutionary history of predation on the evolvability of antibiotic resistance, we propagated variants of E. coli, pre-adapted to distinct biotic and abiotic conditions, in gradually increasing concentrations of antibiotics. We show that pre-adaptation to predators limits the evolution of a high degree of antibiotic resistance. Moreover, lower degree of resistance in the evolved strains also incurs reduced fitness costs while preserving their ancestral ability to resist predation. Together, we demonstrate that the history of biotic interactions can strongly influence the evolvability of bacteria. | 2025 | 40461734 |
| 8422 | 2 | 0.9884 | Slightly beneficial genes are retained by bacteria evolving DNA uptake despite selfish elements. Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) and gene loss result in rapid changes in the gene content of bacteria. While HGT aids bacteria to adapt to new environments, it also carries risks such as selfish genetic elements (SGEs). Here, we use modelling to study how HGT of slightly beneficial genes impacts growth rates of bacterial populations, and if bacterial collectives can evolve to take up DNA despite selfish elements. We find four classes of slightly beneficial genes: indispensable, enrichable, rescuable, and unrescuable genes. Rescuable genes - genes with small fitness benefits that are lost from the population without HGT - can be collectively retained by a community that engages in costly HGT. While this 'gene-sharing' cannot evolve in well-mixed cultures, it does evolve in a spatial population like a biofilm. Despite enabling infection by harmful SGEs, the uptake of foreign DNA is evolutionarily maintained by the hosts, explaining the coexistence of bacteria and SGEs. | 2020 | 32432548 |
| 8619 | 3 | 0.9884 | Bioavailability of pollutants and chemotaxis. The exposure of bacteria to pollutants induces frequently chemoattraction or chemorepellent reactions. Recent research suggests that the capacity to degrade a toxic compound has co-evolved in some bacteria with the capacity to chemotactically react to it. There is an increasing amount of data which show that chemoattraction to biodegradable pollutants increases their bioavailability which translates into an enhancement of the biodegradation rate. Pollutant chemoreceptors so far identified are encoded on degradation or resistance plasmids. Genetic engineering of bacteria, such as the transfer of chemoreceptor genes, offers thus the possibility to optimize biodegradation processes. | 2013 | 22981870 |
| 9580 | 4 | 0.9883 | 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 |
| 8609 | 5 | 0.9881 | Nano-biochar regulates phage-host interactions, reducing antibiotic resistance genes in vermicomposting systems. Biochar amendment reshapes microbial community dynamics in vermicomposting, but the mechanism of how phages respond to this anthropogenic intervention and regulate the dissemination of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) remains unclear. In this study, we used metagenomics, viromics, and laboratory validation to explore how nano-biochar affects phage-host interactions and ARGs dissemination in vermicomposting. Our results revealed distinct niche-specific phage life strategies. In vermicompost, lytic phages dominated and used a "kill-the-winner" strategy to suppress antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB). In contrast, lysogenic phages prevailed in the earthworm gut, adopting a "piggyback-the-winner" strategy that promoted ARGs transduction through mutualistic host interactions. Nano-biochar induced the conversion of lysogenic to lytic phages in the earthworm gut, while concurrently reducing the abundance of lysogenic phages and their encoded auxiliary metabolic genes carried by ARB. This shift disrupted phage-host mutualism and inhibited ARGs transmission via a "phage shunting" mechanism. In vitro validation with batch culture experiments further confirmed that lysogenic phages increased transduction of ARGs in the earthworm gut, while nano-biochar reduced the spread of ARGs by enhancing lysis infectivity. Our study constructs a mechanistic framework linking nano-biochar induced shifts in phage lifestyles that suppress ARG spread, offering insights into phage-host coadaptation and resistance mitigation strategies in organic waste treatment ecosystems. | 2025 | 40838886 |
| 6396 | 6 | 0.9881 | 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 |
| 8612 | 7 | 0.9880 | 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 |
| 8616 | 8 | 0.9880 | Mechanisms of inhibition and recovery under multi-antibiotic stress in anammox: A critical review. With the escalating global concern for emerging pollutants, particularly antibiotics, microplastics, and nanomaterials, the potential disruption they pose to critical environmental processes like anaerobic ammonia oxidation (anammox) has become a pressing issue. The anammox process, which plays a crucial role in nitrogen removal from wastewater, is particularly sensitive to external pollutants. This paper endeavors to address this knowledge gap by providing a comprehensive overview of the inhibition mechanisms of multi-antibiotic on anaerobic ammonia-oxidizing bacteria, along with insights into their recovery processes. The paper dives deeply into the various ways antibiotics interact with anammox bacteria, focusing specifically on their interference with the bacteria's extracellular polymers (EPS) - crucial components that maintain the structural integrity and functionality of the cells. Additionally, it explores how anammox bacteria utilize quorum sensing (QS) mechanisms to regulate their community structure and respond to antibiotic stress. Moreover, the paper summarizes effective removal methods for these antibiotics from wastewater systems, which is crucial for mitigating their inhibitory effects on anammox bacteria. Finally, the paper offers valuable insights into how anammox communities can recuperate from multi-antibiotic stress. This includes strategies for reintroducing healthy bacteria, optimizing operational conditions, and using bioaugmentation techniques to enhance the resilience of anammox communities. In summary, this paper not only enriches our understanding of the complex interactions between antibiotics and anammox bacteria but also provides theoretical and practical guidance for the treatment of antibiotic pollution in sewage, ensuring the sustainability and effectiveness of wastewater treatment processes. | 2024 | 39366232 |
| 8635 | 9 | 0.9880 | Techniques for enhancing the tolerance of industrial microbes to abiotic stresses: A review. The diversity of stress responses and survival strategies evolved by microorganism enables them to survive and reproduce in a multitude of harsh environments, whereas the discovery of the underlying resistance genes or mechanisms laid the foundation for the directional enhancement of microbial tolerance to abiotic stresses encountered in industrial applications. Many biological techniques have been developed for improving the stress resistance of industrial microorganisms, which greatly benefited the bacteria on which industrial production is based. This review introduces the main techniques for enhancing the resistance of microorganisms to abiotic stresses, including evolutionary engineering, metabolic engineering, and process engineering, developed in recent years. In addition, we also discuss problems that are still present in this area and offer directions for future research. | 2020 | 31206805 |
| 8613 | 10 | 0.9880 | Insights into the role of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) in the spread of antibiotic resistance genes. Antibiotic resistance genes (ARG) are prevalent in aquatic environments. Discharge from wastewater treatment plants is an important point source of ARG release into the environment. It has been reported that biological treatment processes may enhance rather than remove ARG because of their presence in sludge. Attenuation of ARG in biotechnological processes has been studied in depth, showing that many microorganisms can secrete complex extracellular polymeric substances (EPS). These EPS can serve as multifunctional elements of microbial communities, involving aspects, such as protection, structure, recognition, adhesion, and physiology. These aspects can influence the interaction between microbial cells and extracellular ARG, as well as the uptake of extracellular ARG by microbial cells, thus changing the transformative capability of extracellular ARG. However, it remains unclear whether EPS can affect horizontal ARG transfer, which is one of the main processes of ARG dissemination. In light of this knowledge gap, this review provides insight into the role of EPS in the transmission of ARGs; furthermore, the mechanism of ARG spread is analyzed, and the molecular compositions and functional properties of EPS are summarized; also, how EPS influence ARG mitigation is addressed, and factors impacting how EPS facilitate ARG during wastewater treatment are summarized. This review provides comprehensive insights into the role of EPS in controlling the transport and fate of ARG during biodegradation processes at the mechanistic level. | 2024 | 38169168 |
| 6439 | 11 | 0.9879 | 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 |
| 8647 | 12 | 0.9878 | 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 |
| 8599 | 13 | 0.9878 | Artificial sweeteners stimulate horizontal transfer of extracellular antibiotic resistance genes through natural transformation. Antimicrobial resistance has emerged as a global threat to human health. Natural transformation is an important pathway for horizontal gene transfer, which facilitates the dissemination of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) among bacteria. Although it is suspected that artificial sweeteners could exert antimicrobial effects, little is known whether artificial sweeteners would also affect horizontal transfer of ARGs via transformation. Here we demonstrate that four commonly used artificial sweeteners (saccharin, sucralose, aspartame, and acesulfame potassium) promote transfer of ARGs via natural transformation in Acinetobacter baylyi ADP1, a model organism for studying competence and transformation. Such phenomenon was also found in a Gram-positive human pathogen Bacillus subtilis and mice faecal microbiome. We reveal that exposure to these sweeteners increases cell envelope permeability and results in an upregulation of genes encoding DNA uptake and translocation (Com) machinery. In addition, we find that artificial sweeteners induce an increase in plasmid persistence in transformants. We propose a mathematical model established to predict the long-term effects on transformation dynamics under exposure to these sweeteners. Collectively, our findings offer insights into natural transformation promoted by artificial sweeteners and highlight the need to evaluate these environmental contaminants for their antibiotic-like side effects. | 2022 | 34465899 |
| 6934 | 14 | 0.9877 | 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 |
| 6787 | 15 | 0.9877 | Impact of chlorine disinfection on intracellular and extracellular antimicrobial resistance genes in wastewater treatment and water reclamation. Wastewater treatment plants and water reclamation facilities are reservoirs of antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs). These ARGs are not limited solely to intracellular DNA (inARGs) but include extracellular DNA (exARGs) present in wastewater. The release of exARGs from cells can be exacerbated by treatment processes, including chlorine disinfection, which disrupts bacterial cells. Given the potential for exARGs to drive horizontal gene transfer and contribute to the proliferation of antimicrobial resistance, it is imperative to recognize these fractions as emerging environmental pollutants. In this study, we conducted a comprehensive year-long assessment of both inARGs and exARGs, further differentiating between dissolved exARGs (Dis_exARGs) and exARGs adsorbed onto particulate matter (Ads_exARGs), within a full-scale wastewater treatment and water reclamation facility. The results revealed that Ads_exARGs comprised up to 30 % of the total ARGs in raw sewage with high biomass content. Generally, treatments at low and high doses of chlorine increased the abundance of Dis_exARGs and Ads_exARGs. The fate of ARG levels that varied depending on the type of ARGs suggested variations in the susceptibility of the host bacteria to chlorination. Moreover, co-occurrence of several potential opportunistic pathogenic bacteria and ARGs were observed. Therefore, we propose higher doses of chlorination as a prerequisite for the effective removal of inARGs and exARGs. | 2024 | 39067603 |
| 9583 | 16 | 0.9876 | Bacteriophages presence in nature and their role in the natural selection of bacterial populations. Phages are the obligate parasite of bacteria and have complex interactions with their hosts. Phages can live in, modify, and shape bacterial communities by bringing about changes in their abundance, diversity, physiology, and virulence. In addition, phages mediate lateral gene transfer, modify host metabolism and reallocate bacterially-derived biochemical compounds through cell lysis, thus playing an important role in ecosystem. Phages coexist and coevolve with bacteria and have developed several antidefense mechanisms in response to bacterial defense strategies against them. Phages owe their existence to their bacterial hosts, therefore they bring about alterations in their host genomes by transferring resistance genes and genes encoding toxins in order to improve the fitness of the hosts. Application of phages in biotechnology, environment, agriculture and medicines demands a deep insight into the myriad of phage-bacteria interactions. However, to understand their complex interactions, we need to know how unique phages are to their bacterial hosts and how they exert a selective pressure on the microbial communities in nature. Consequently, the present review focuses on phage biology with respect to natural selection of bacterial populations. | 2020 | 33170167 |
| 9110 | 17 | 0.9876 | Bacterial resistance to antibiotics: the role of biofilms. Bacteria adhere to natural and synthetic, medically important surfaces within an extracellular polymer generically termed the glycocalyx. This quasi-structure is a biofilm. The enhanced antibiotic resistance of biofilm bacteria, relative to floating (planktonic) bacteria, encourages the establishment of chronic bacterial infections. Resistance mechanisms include the hinderance of antibiotic diffusion by the glycocalyx, the physiology of the bacteria and the environment conditions of the niche in which the biofilm resides. | 1991 | 1763187 |
| 6449 | 18 | 0.9876 | 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 |
| 8134 | 19 | 0.9876 | Sweet scents from good bacteria: Case studies on bacterial volatile compounds for plant growth and immunity. Beneficial bacteria produce diverse chemical compounds that affect the behavior of other organisms including plants. Bacterial volatile compounds (BVCs) contribute to triggering plant immunity and promoting plant growth. Previous studies investigated changes in plant physiology caused by in vitro application of the identified volatile compounds or the BVC-emitting bacteria. This review collates new information on BVC-mediated plant-bacteria airborne interactions, addresses unresolved questions about the biological relevance of BVCs, and summarizes data on recently identified BVCs that improve plant growth or protection. Recent explorations of bacterial metabolic engineering to alter BVC production using heterologous or endogenous genes are introduced. Molecular genetic approaches can expand the BVC repertoire of beneficial bacteria to target additional beneficial effects, or simply boost the production level of naturally occurring BVCs. The effects of direct BVC application in soil are reviewed and evaluated for potential large-scale field and agricultural applications. Our review of recent BVC data indicates that BVCs have great potential to serve as effective biostimulants and bioprotectants even under open-field conditions. | 2016 | 26177913 |