Volume 1, Issue 2 (June, 2022) – 5 articles
Cover Picture: Despite the growing literature on the effects of micro/nanoplastics on ARGs, most studies only observed the correlation between microbial communities and antibiotic resistance genes(ARG) profiles, which is not the underlying reason plastics could selectively recruit ARGs. For microplastics, we may hypothesize that the microplastics can selectively recruit microorganisms growing on microplastics, which contributes to the distinct ARG profiles on microplastics. The closer physical distance of microorganisms would induce the horizontal gene transfer. Thus, further studies should focus on why the microplastics have the ability to show selective recruitment and whether the levels of gene exchanges on microplastics are higher. For nanoplastics, their attack on the cell wall may be more important for gene exchanges. More attention should focus on how micro/nanoplastics mediate the ARG transformation.
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