Wang Xiaonan, Du Gaoquan, Qiao Zhuang, Yang Yixuan, Shi Huimin, Zhang Daoyong, Pan Xiangliang
Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology for Industrial Pollution Control of Zhejiang Province, College of Environment, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, 310014, China.
School of Environment Science and Spatial Information, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou, 221116, China.
Heliyon. 2023 Jun 7;9(6):e17034. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e17034. eCollection 2023 Jun.
Ubiquitous antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) is a significant global human health concern. Surfactants have been extensively used worldwide, and the consumption of surfactants containing hygiene, cleaning agents and disinfectants was multiplied during COVID-19 pandemic, which have caused significantly increased pollution of surfactants in aquatic environment. Whether such ever-increasing surfactant concentration boost dissemination risk of ARGs still remains unknown. Here the effects of three typical surfactants such as sodium dodecyl sulfate, cetyltrimethylammonium bromide and benzalkonium chloride on the transformation of pUC19 plasmid (2686 bp)-borne ARGs to recipient bacteria DH5ɑ were investigated. It was found that these surfactants at environmental concentrations facilitated horizonal gene transfer (HGT) via transformation. The transformation triggering concentrations for the three surfactants were 0.25-0.34 mg/L with a maximum increased transformation frequency of 13.51-22.93-fold. The mechanisms involved in activated HGT of ARGs via transformation triggered by surfactants could be mainly attributed to the increased production of reactive oxygen species, which further enhanced cell membrane permeability. These findings provide new sights for understanding of ARG propagation and also imply that the drastic rise of surfactant concentration in aquatic environment may significantly increase the dissemination risk of antibiotic resistance.
无处不在的抗生素抗性基因（ARGs）是全球人类健康的重大问题。表面活性剂在全球范围内被广泛使用，在新冠疫情期间，含有卫生用品、清洁剂和消毒剂的表面活性剂的消费量成倍增加，这导致了水环境中表面活性剂污染显著增加。如此不断增加的表面活性剂浓度是否会增加ARGs的传播风险仍然未知。在此，研究了三种典型表面活性剂，如十二烷基硫酸钠、十六烷基三甲基溴化铵和苯扎氯铵对携带pUC19质粒（2686 bp）的ARGs向受体细菌DH5ɑ转化的影响。研究发现，这些处于环境浓度的表面活性剂通过转化促进水平基因转移（HGT）。这三种表面活性剂的转化触发浓度为0.25 - 0.34 mg/L，最大转化频率增加了13.51 - 22.93倍。表面活性剂触发的通过转化激活ARGs的HGT所涉及的机制可能主要归因于活性氧的产生增加，这进一步增强了细胞膜通透性。这些发现为理解ARGs的传播提供了新的视角，也意味着水环境中表面活性剂浓度的急剧上升可能会显著增加抗生素抗性的传播风险。
