TY - JOUR
T1 - Phage lysis-mediated reduction of antibiotic-resistant bacteria alleviates micro/nanoplastic-driven antimicrobial resistance dissemination in anaerobic digestion
AU - Zhang, Xingxing
AU - Jiao, Pengbo
AU - Li, Bing
AU - Zhang, Xu Xiang
AU - Ma, Liping
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2025
PY - 2025/10/1
Y1 - 2025/10/1
N2 - Micro/nanoplastics (MPs/NPs) prevalent in anaerobic digestion (AD) have posed escalating threats to antimicrobial resistance (AMR) dissemination, yet mechanistic insights remain insufficient. Here we investigated polypropylene (PP)-MPs (200 μm) and PP-NPs (100 nm) at environmentally relevant concentrations (10, 50, and 100 mg/g TS) on antibiotic resistance gene (ARG) dynamics and transfer mechanisms using metagenomics and bioinformatic modeling. PP-MPs/NPs significantly elevated (6.4–17.8 %, p < 0.05) ARG abundance through selective enrichment of aminoglycoside, mupirocin, multidrug, polymyxin, sulfonamide, tetracycline, and novobiocin ARGs. Metagenomic assembly revealed the particle-induced ecological niche specialization of antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB), notably the multi-resistant ESKAPE pathogen Enterobacter hormaechei (53.4–69.4 % enrichment, p < 0.05), which harbored mobile aadA, qacEdelta1, and sul1 via conjugative plasmids. Mechanistically, MPs/NPs facilitated horizontal gene transfer (HGT) through synergism of plasmids and phages. The enhanced abundance of conjugation elements, enriched plasmid-borne ARGs, and extensive HGT events promoted plasmid-conjugative transfer, while the strongly correlated ARG-carrying lysogenic phage−host pairs highlighted phage-mediated transfer under MPs/NPs. The significant increase of phage-to-host-ratio (1.0–1.2 folds) revealed the underestimated role of phages lysing ARB under MPs/NPs stress, thereby contributing to ARG load reduction. A novel risk assessment framework prioritizing prevalence, enrichment, mobility, and host pathogenicity identified dfrA3, mefB, OXA-347, and tet44 as high-risk biomarkers and quantified 1.5–9.9 % increased health risks in digestate-exposed scenarios. These findings reveal the neglected role of phage lysis driving ARG reduction, providing actionable targets for mitigating plastic-driven resistance in AD.
AB - Micro/nanoplastics (MPs/NPs) prevalent in anaerobic digestion (AD) have posed escalating threats to antimicrobial resistance (AMR) dissemination, yet mechanistic insights remain insufficient. Here we investigated polypropylene (PP)-MPs (200 μm) and PP-NPs (100 nm) at environmentally relevant concentrations (10, 50, and 100 mg/g TS) on antibiotic resistance gene (ARG) dynamics and transfer mechanisms using metagenomics and bioinformatic modeling. PP-MPs/NPs significantly elevated (6.4–17.8 %, p < 0.05) ARG abundance through selective enrichment of aminoglycoside, mupirocin, multidrug, polymyxin, sulfonamide, tetracycline, and novobiocin ARGs. Metagenomic assembly revealed the particle-induced ecological niche specialization of antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB), notably the multi-resistant ESKAPE pathogen Enterobacter hormaechei (53.4–69.4 % enrichment, p < 0.05), which harbored mobile aadA, qacEdelta1, and sul1 via conjugative plasmids. Mechanistically, MPs/NPs facilitated horizontal gene transfer (HGT) through synergism of plasmids and phages. The enhanced abundance of conjugation elements, enriched plasmid-borne ARGs, and extensive HGT events promoted plasmid-conjugative transfer, while the strongly correlated ARG-carrying lysogenic phage−host pairs highlighted phage-mediated transfer under MPs/NPs. The significant increase of phage-to-host-ratio (1.0–1.2 folds) revealed the underestimated role of phages lysing ARB under MPs/NPs stress, thereby contributing to ARG load reduction. A novel risk assessment framework prioritizing prevalence, enrichment, mobility, and host pathogenicity identified dfrA3, mefB, OXA-347, and tet44 as high-risk biomarkers and quantified 1.5–9.9 % increased health risks in digestate-exposed scenarios. These findings reveal the neglected role of phage lysis driving ARG reduction, providing actionable targets for mitigating plastic-driven resistance in AD.
KW - Anaerobic digestion
KW - Antibiotic resistance genes
KW - Micro/nanoplastics
KW - Pathogenic hosts
KW - Phage community
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105008765747
U2 - 10.1016/j.watres.2025.124046
DO - 10.1016/j.watres.2025.124046
M3 - 文章
AN - SCOPUS:105008765747
SN - 0043-1354
VL - 285
JO - Water Research
JF - Water Research
M1 - 124046
ER -
