Techniques Used for Analyzing Microplastics, Antimicrobial Resistance and Microbial Community Composition: A Mini-Review

Abstract

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global health threat. Antibiotics, heavy metals, and microplastics are environmental pollutants that together potentially have a positive synergetic effect on the development, persistence, transport, and ecology of antibiotic resistant bacteria in the environment. To evaluate this, a wide array of experimental methods would be needed to quantify the occurrence of antibiotics, heavy metals, and microplastics as well as associated microbial communities in the natural environment. In this mini-review, we outline the current technologies used to characterize microplastics based ecosystems termed “plastisphere” and their AMR promoting elements (antibiotics, heavy metals, and microbial inhabitants) and highlight emerging technologies that could be useful for systems-level investigations of AMR in the plastisphere.

Current examining methods and mathematical models of horizontal transfer of antibiotic resistance genes in the environment

“…Real-Time Quantitative PCR (RTQ-PCR), developed on this basis, utilizes fluorescence signal detection of PCR products. The intensity of the emitted fluorescence is proportional to the amount of amplified product, allowing for precise quantification of abundance and diversity of ARGs and MGEs (including plasmids, phages, insertion), assessing the occurrence and extent of HGT ( Bartkova et al, 2021 ; Zheng et al, 2023 ). Wang et al obtained relative gene copy numbers of 10 ARGs and MEGs through qPCR to predict the behavior of microbial communities ( Wang et al, 2020 ).…”

Long-term dynamics of microplastic accumulation in the intestinal tract of terrestrial insects on the example of Vespula vulgaris (Linnaeus, 1758) (Hymenoptera: Vespidae)

“…Microparticles of artifi cial polymers can be found in different environments, such as marine and freshwater ecosystems, the atmosphere, agroecosystems, natural soils, food, and drinking water [Nizzetto et al, 2016;Kumar et al, 2020]. MP ingestion by living organisms is not associated with direct fatal effects, but it causes chronic disorders, for example, reduced food intake or even starvation, developmental disorders and behavioral changes, and can induce long-term toxic effects [He et al, 2020;Weber et al, 2020;Bartkova et al, 2021;Cappello et al, 2021;Frank et al, 2023]. In addition, MPs can act as a substrate for malignant microorganisms (for example, opportunistic or antibiotic-resistant bacteria) [Bartkova et al, 2021].…”

“…MP ingestion by living organisms is not associated with direct fatal effects, but it causes chronic disorders, for example, reduced food intake or even starvation, developmental disorders and behavioral changes, and can induce long-term toxic effects [He et al, 2020;Weber et al, 2020;Bartkova et al, 2021;Cappello et al, 2021;Frank et al, 2023]. In addition, MPs can act as a substrate for malignant microorganisms (for example, opportunistic or antibiotic-resistant bacteria) [Bartkova et al, 2021]. This feature raises concerns since it could potentially have an adverse effect on biodiversity and functioning of the ecosystems [Reid et al, 2019;Rillig et al, 2020].…”

Culturing the Plastisphere: comparing methods to isolate culturable bacteria colonising microplastics

“…There are a number of different techniques that have been used to investigate the microbial community profiles associated with microplastics ( De Tender et al, 2017 ; Bartkova et al, 2021 ). These methods can be divided into molecular (e.g., DNA extraction followed by downstream applications such as sequencing), and culture-based (e.g., cultivation on agar plates) techniques.…”