Article
Engineering, Environmental
Xiaobo Yang, Yuanyuan Niu, Yutong Yang, Hongrui Zhou, Jing Li, Xinyue Fu, Zhiqiang Shen, Jingfeng Wang, Zhigang Qiu
Summary: Conjugative plasmids can be transferred horizontally in bacteria, contributing to the transmission of antibiotic resistance genes. This study reveals that the hormone estradiol can promote the transfer of plasmids in Enterococcus faecalis, increasing antibiotic resistance. It is suggested that estradiol activates the pheromone signaling cascade and directly binds to the pheromone receptor, enhancing plasmid transfer and antibiotic resistance.
JOURNAL OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Yutong Yang, Xiaobo Yang, Hongrui Zhou, Yuanyuan Niu, Jing Li, Xinyue Fu, Shang Wang, Bin Xue, Chenyu Li, Chen Zhao, Xi Zhang, Zhiqiang Shen, Jingfeng Wang, Zhigang Qiu
Summary: The enrichment and spread of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) induced by environmental chemical pollution pose a threat to human health and ecological safety. This study established a new conjugation model and confirmed that environmentally relevant concentrations of bisphenols (BPs) can significantly promote the conjugation of ARGs mediated by plasmid pCF10. The findings provide new insight into the environmental behavior and biological effect of BPs and offer a new method and theory for studying the enrichment and spread of ARGs induced by environmental chemical pollution.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Yutong Yang, Xiaobo Yang, Hongrui Zhou, Yuanyuan Niu, Jing Li, Xinyue Fu, Shang Wang, Bin Xue, Chenyu Li, Chen Zhao, Xi Zhang, Zhiqiang Shen, Jingfeng Wang, Zhigang Qiu
Summary: Chemical pollution in the environment enhances the spread of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), posing a threat to human health and ecological safety. Bisphenols (BPs) have been found to significantly promote the conjugation of ARGs mediated by plasmids in bacteria. Bisphenol A (BPA) upregulates pheromone expression, promotes bacterial aggregation, and even directly activates conjugation.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Hongrui Zhou, Xiaobo Yang, Yutong Yang, Yuanyuan Niu, Jing Li, Xinyue Fu, Shang Wang, Bin Xue, Chenyu Li, Chen Zhao, Xi Zhang, Zhiqiang Shen, Jingfeng Wang, Zhigang Qiu
Summary: In this study, the addition of 5 mu g/mL docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) was found to significantly reduce the conjugative transfer of pCF10 plasmid in E. faecalis. DHA disrupted pheromone transport by inhibiting the mRNA levels of the prgZ gene, leading to the accumulation of iCF10 pheromone in donor bacteria and the formation of an inhibitory phase. This resulted in down-regulation of genes related to conjugative transfer, inhibiting biofilm formation and bacterial adhesion, thus inhibiting conjugative transfer. Overall, DHA showed an admirable inhibitory effect on the transfer of ARGs in E. faecalis. This study provided a technical option to control the transfer of ARGs.
JOURNAL OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Microbiology
Takaya Segawa, Dawn A. Manias, Gary M. Dunny
Summary: This study investigates the regulatory role of the transcription factor PrgX in pheromone-inducible conjugation in the Enterococcus faecalis pCF10 system. The results reveal that the interaction of PrgX with antagonistic regulatory peptides ICF10 and cCF10, as well as the structural changes in the operator sites on the target DNA, are crucial for regulating the transcription of conjugation genes.
JOURNAL OF BACTERIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Qiang Pu, Xiao-Ting Fan, An-Qi Sun, Ting Pan, Hu Li, Simon Bo Lassen, Xin-Li An, Jian-Qiang Su
Summary: The simultaneous exposure to Cd2+ and high concentration nano Fe2O3 significantly increased the transfer frequencies of plasmid RP4, leading to the formation of more transconjugants, most of which were identified as human pathogens. The co-effect of Cd2+ and nano Fe2O3 enhanced cell membrane permeability, antioxidant enzyme activities, and mRNA expression levels of conjugation genes, exacerbating the conjunctive transfer of ARGs.
ENVIRONMENT INTERNATIONAL
(2021)
Article
Immunology
Moagi T. Shaku, Karl L. Ocius, Alexis J. Apostolos, Marcos M. Pires, Michael S. Vannieuwenhze, Neeraj Dhar, Bavesh D. Kana
Summary: This study reveals the essentiality of D-glutamate amidation in Mycobacterium smegmatis cell wall synthesis and highlights the MurT-GatD complex as a novel drug target.
FRONTIERS IN CELLULAR AND INFECTION MICROBIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Hua Li, Arnaud Dechesne, Zhiming He, Marlene Mark Jensen, Hai Liang Song, Barth F. Smets
Summary: Current in the milliampere range can enhance conjugal plasmid transfer between bacteria, including antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The exposure to sublethal current intensities during electrochemical disinfection can lead to increased transconjugant frequency and expression of conjugation-related genes. It is crucial to carefully control the conditions of electrochemical disinfection to prevent the transmission of antibiotic resistance genes.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Ivo Iavicoli, Luca Fontana, Evgenios Agathokleous, Carolina Santocono, Francesco Russo, Ilaria Vetrani, Mauro Fedele, Edward J. Calabrese
Summary: Environmental contamination of antibiotics due to over or inappropriate use can promote antimicrobial resistance and have adverse impacts on ecosystems and human health. Bacteria exposed to low concentrations of antibiotics in the environment may exhibit hormetic effects, enhancing their resistance to antibiotics.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2021)
Article
Microbiology
Jessica Guzman-Otazo, Enrique Joffre, Jorge Agramont, Nataniel Mamani, Jekaterina Jutkina, Fredrik Boulund, Yue O. O. Hu, Daphne Jumilla-Lorenz, Anne Farewell, D. G. Joakim Larsson, Carl-Fredrik Flach, Volga Iniguez, Asa Sjoling
Summary: This study found that environmental bacterial communities from the highly contaminated La Paz River basin in Bolivia have the potential to transfer antibiotic resistance genes to Escherichia coli. The predominant plasmids in the transconjugants belonged to the incompatibility group N and were verified to be mobile. Interestingly, all transconjugants also acquired the class 1 integron intl1. Metal resistance genes were found to have a minor role in the spread of multidrug-resistant plasmids at the investigated sites.
FRONTIERS IN MICROBIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Microbiology
Ruben L. L. Sanchez-Nieves, Changyi Zhang, Rachel J. J. Whitaker
Summary: This study investigates a plasmid-mediated mechanism of gene transfer in Sulfolobus islandicus that leads to high frequency recombination within the chromosome. Through genomic analysis, the researchers establish the distribution of recombinant tracts and identify distal non-selected recombination events. This study reveals the molecular factors governing gene transfer and recombination in crenarchaea.
FRONTIERS IN MICROBIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Immunology
Dongxing Tian, Weiwen Wang, Meng Li, Wenjie Chen, Ying Zhou, Yunkun Huang, Zike Sheng, Xiaofei Jiang
Summary: The study focused on the hypervirulence and transfer ability of a hypervirulent strain of Klebsiella pneumoniae harboring a conjugative virulence plasmid. Results showed that the transconjugants acquired the ability to produce high levels of siderophores and caused high mortality in wax larvae and mice, suggesting the potential spread of similar plasmids throughout China and possibly worldwide.
FRONTIERS IN CELLULAR AND INFECTION MICROBIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Yingchao Cui, Jingfeng Gao, Yi Guo, Ziqiao Li, Zhiqi Wang, Yifan Zhao
Summary: This study demonstrated that Paracetamol (PRC) can promote intergenera conjugative plasmid transfer, which leads to the spread of antibiotic resistance. The treatment of PRC induced changes in reactive oxygen species, SOS response, and cell membrane permeability of both donor and recipient strains. Transcriptome analysis revealed that PRC significantly upregulated the expression of genes related to cell membrane permeability and SOS response. Additionally, PRC also increased the expressions of conjugation related genes in donor strains.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH
(2022)
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Izabela Kern-Zdanowicz
Summary: pCTX-M3 is the archetype of IncM incompatibility group of conjugative plasmids responsible for worldwide dissemination of antibiotic resistance genes and has a limited host range within Enterobacteriaceae, while its conjugation system has a wide range of recipients including Alpha-, Beta-, and Gammaproteobacteria, and Firmicutes.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Haining Huang, Guanqun Feng, Meng Wang, Chao Liu, Yang Wu, Lei Dong, Leiyu Feng, Xiong Zheng, Yinguang Chen
Summary: Nitric oxide (NO), an intermediate of the wastewater nitrogen cycle, significantly enhances the conjugative transfer of plasmids between different bacteria by increasing outer membrane permeability and activating global regulatory genes. The exposure to NO can pose risks in spreading antibiotic resistance genes among wastewater microbiota.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
(2022)