Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, NSW 2109, Australia.
Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, NSW 2109, Australia.
J Environ Sci (China). 2021 Jan;99:21-27. doi: 10.1016/j.jes.2020.05.030. Epub 2020 Jun 24.
Antibiotics are poorly metabolized, and can enter the environment via human waste streams, agricultural run-off and pharmaceutical effluent. We consequently expect to see a concentration gradient of antibiotic compounds radiating from areas of human population. Such antibiotics should be thought of as pollutants, as they can accumulate, and have biological effects. These antibiotic pollutants can increase rates of mutation and lateral transfer events, and continue to exert selection pressure even at sub-inhibitory concentrations. Here, we conducted a literature survey on environmental concentrations of antibiotics. We collated 887 data points from 40 peer-reviewed papers. We then determined whether these concentrations were biologically relevant by comparing them to their minimum selective concentrations, usually defined as between 1/4 and 1/230 of the minimum inhibitory concentration. Environmental concentrations of antibiotics surveyed often fall into this range. In general, the antibiotic concentrations recorded in aquatic and sediment samples were similar. These findings indicate that environmental concentrations of antibiotics are likely to be influencing microbial ecology, and to be driving the selection of antibiotic resistant bacteria.
抗生素代谢不良，可通过人类排泄物、农业径流和药物废水进入环境。因此，我们预计会看到抗生素化合物从人口密集区向外辐射的浓度梯度。这些抗生素应该被视为污染物，因为它们会积累并产生生物效应。这些抗生素污染物会增加突变和水平转移事件的发生率，并在亚抑制浓度下继续施加选择压力。在这里，我们对环境中抗生素的浓度进行了文献调查。我们从 40 篇同行评议的论文中整理了 887 个数据点。然后，我们通过将这些浓度与最低选择浓度进行比较，来确定它们是否具有生物学相关性，最低选择浓度通常定义为最低抑菌浓度的 1/4 到 1/230 之间。所调查的环境抗生素浓度通常在此范围内。一般来说，在水样和沉积物样本中记录的抗生素浓度相似。这些发现表明，环境中抗生素的浓度可能会影响微生物生态，并促使选择出对抗生素具有抗性的细菌。
