Advanced Water Management Centre (AWMC), The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia; Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Atmospheric Environment and Equipment Technology, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Information Science &Technology, Nanjing 210044, China.
Advanced Water Management Centre (AWMC), The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia.
J Hazard Mater. 2022 Jan 5;421:126728. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.126728. Epub 2021 Jul 24.
The increasing release of nanomaterials has attracted significant concerns for human and environmental health. Similarly, the dissemination of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global health crisis affecting approximately 700,000 people a year. However, a knowledge gap persists between the spread of AMR and nanomaterials. This study aims to fill this gap by investigating whether and how nanomaterials could directly facilitate the dissemination of AMR through horizontal gene transfer. Our results show that commonly-used nanoparticles (NPs) (Ag, CuO and ZnO NPs) and their ion forms (Ag, Cu and Zn) at realistic concentrations within aquatic environments can significantly promote the transformation of extracellular antibiotic resistance genes in Acinetobacter baylyi ADP1 by a factor of 11.0-folds, which is comparable to the effects of antibiotics. The enhanced transformation by Ag NPs/Ag and CuO NPs/Cu was primarily associated with the overproduction of reactive oxygen species and cell membrane damage. ZnO NPs/Zn might increase the natural transformation rate by stimulating the stress response and ATP synthesis. All tested NPs/ions resulted in upregulating the competence and SOS response-associated genes. These findings highlight a new concern that nanomaterials can speed up the spread of AMR, which should not be ignored when assessing the holistic risk of nanomaterials.
纳米材料的不断释放引起了人们对人类和环境健康的极大关注。同样，抗菌药物耐药性（AMR）的传播也是一个全球性的健康危机，每年影响约 70 万人。然而，AMR 和纳米材料的传播之间仍然存在知识差距。本研究旨在通过研究纳米材料是否以及如何通过水平基因转移直接促进 AMR 的传播来填补这一空白。我们的研究结果表明，在现实的水生环境浓度下，常用的纳米颗粒（NPs）（Ag、CuO 和 ZnO NPs）及其离子形式（Ag、Cu 和 Zn）可以显著促进鲍曼不动杆菌 ADP1 中细胞外抗生素耐药基因的转化，其转化效率比抗生素高 11 倍。Ag NPs/Ag 和 CuO NPs/Cu 的增强转化主要与活性氧的过度产生和细胞膜损伤有关。ZnO NPs/Zn 可能通过刺激应激反应和 ATP 合成来提高自然转化率。所有测试的 NPs/离子都导致了与感受态和 SOS 反应相关基因的上调。这些发现强调了一个新的关注点，即纳米材料可以加速 AMR 的传播，在评估纳米材料的整体风险时，不应忽视这一点。
