The role of biofilms as environmental reservoirs of antibiotic resistance

Antibiotic resistance has become a significant and growing threat to public and environmental health. To face this problem both at local and global scales, a better understanding of the sources and mechanisms that contribute to the emergence and spread of antibiotic resistance is required. Recent st...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inFrontiers in microbiology Vol. 6; p. 1216
Main Authors Balcázar, José L, Subirats, Jéssica, Borrego, Carles M
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Switzerland Frontiers Media 31.10.2015
Frontiers Media S.A
Subjects
antibiotic resistance genes
Antibiotics
Antibiòtics
aquatic ecosystems
Aquatic Resistome
Biofilms
Drug resistance in microorganisms
Ecologia microbiana
Microbial ecology
Microbiology
Microorganismes
mobile genetic elements
Resistència als medicaments
mobile genetic elements
antibiotic resistance genes
aquatic ecosystems
biofilms
aquatic resistome
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Summary:Antibiotic resistance has become a significant and growing threat to public and environmental health. To face this problem both at local and global scales, a better understanding of the sources and mechanisms that contribute to the emergence and spread of antibiotic resistance is required. Recent studies demonstrate that aquatic ecosystems are reservoirs of resistant bacteria and antibiotic resistance genes as well as potential conduits for their transmission to human pathogens. Despite the wealth of information about antibiotic pollution and its effect on the aquatic microbial resistome, the contribution of environmental biofilms to the acquisition and spread of antibiotic resistance has not been fully explored in aquatic systems. Biofilms are structured multicellular communities embedded in a self-produced extracellular matrix that acts as a barrier to antibiotic diffusion. High population densities and proximity of cells in biofilms also increases the chances for genetic exchange among bacterial species converting biofilms in hot spots of antibiotic resistance. This review focuses on the potential effect of antibiotic pollution on biofilm microbial communities, with special emphasis on ecological and evolutionary processes underlying acquired resistance to these compounds.
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Reviewed by: Michael R. Twiss, Clarkson University, USA; Hans-Peter Grossart, IGB-Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Germany
Edited by: Maurizio Labbate, University of Technology Sydney, Australia
This article was submitted to Aquatic Microbiology, a section of the journal Frontiers in Microbiology
ISSN:1664-302X
1664-302X
DOI:10.3389/fmicb.2015.01216