Non-antibiotic pharmaceuticals enhance the transmission of exogenous antibiotic resistance genes through bacterial transformation.

ABSTRACT: Antibiotic resistance is a serious global threat for public health. Considering the high abundance of cell-free DNA encoding antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in both clinical and environmental settings, natural transformation is an important horizontal gene transfer pathway to transmit antibiotic resistance. It is acknowledged that antibiotics are key drivers for disseminating antibiotic resistance, yet the contributions of non-antibiotic pharmaceuticals on transformation of ARGs are overlooked. In this study, we report that some commonly consumed non-antibiotic pharmaceuticals, at clinically and environmentally relevant concentrations, significantly facilitated the spread of antibiotic resistance through the uptake of exogenous ARGs. This included nonsteroidal anti-inflammatories, ibupr

SUBMITTER: Wang Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7367833 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature