title: Enhanced uptake of antibiotic resistance genes in the presence of nanoalumina.
abstract: Nanomaterial pollution and the spread of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) are global public health and environmental concerns. Whether nanomaterials could aid the transfer of ARGs released from dead bacteria into live bacteria to cause spread of ARGs is still unknown. Here, we demonstrated that nano-Al2O3 could significantly promote plasmid-mediated ARGs transformation into Gram-negative Escherichia coli strains and into Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus; however, bulk Al2O3 did not have this effect. Under suitable conditions, 7.4 × 10(6) transformants of E. coli and 2.9 × 10(5) transformants of S. aureus were obtained from 100 ng of a pBR322-based plasmid when bacteria were treated with nano-Al2O3. Nanoparticles concentrations, plasmid concentrations, bacterial concentrations, interaction time between the nanomaterial and bacterial cells and the vortexing time affected the transformation efficiency. We also explored the mechanisms underlying this phenomenon. Using fluorescence in situ hybridization and scanning electron microscopy, we found that nano-Al2O3 damaged the cell membrane to produce pores, through which plasmid could enter bacterial cells. Results from reactive oxygen species (ROS) assays, genome-wide expression microarray profiling and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reactions suggested that intracellular ROS damaged the cell membrane, and that an SOS response promoted plasmid transformation. Our results indicated the environmental and health risk resulting from nanomaterials helping sensitive bacteria to obtain antibiotic resistance.
authors.affiliation: a College of Life Science, Shandong Normal University , Jinan , China ;|b College of Life Science, Zaozhuang University , Zaozhuang , China ;
authors.forename: Chengshi
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.affiliation: a College of Life Science, Shandong Normal University , Jinan , China ;
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.affiliation: c Tianjin Institute of Health and Environmental Medicine , Tianjin , China.
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.affiliation: c Tianjin Institute of Health and Environmental Medicine , Tianjin , China.
authors.forename: Dong
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: c Tianjin Institute of Health and Environmental Medicine , Tianjin , China.
authors.forename: Zhiqiang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.affiliation: c Tianjin Institute of Health and Environmental Medicine , Tianjin , China.
authors.forename: Jingfeng
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: c Tianjin Institute of Health and Environmental Medicine , Tianjin , China.
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: c Tianjin Institute of Health and Environmental Medicine , Tianjin , China.
authors.forename: Weili
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: c Tianjin Institute of Health and Environmental Medicine , Tianjin , China.
authors.forename: Jialun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.affiliation: c Tianjin Institute of Health and Environmental Medicine , Tianjin , China.
authors.forename: Xuan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: c Tianjin Institute of Health and Environmental Medicine , Tianjin , China.
authors.forename: Daning
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: c Tianjin Institute of Health and Environmental Medicine , Tianjin , China.
authors.forename: Zhaoli
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: c Tianjin Institute of Health and Environmental Medicine , Tianjin , China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.affiliation: c Tianjin Institute of Health and Environmental Medicine , Tianjin , China.
authors.forename: Zhigang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Qiu
authors.affiliation: c Tianjin Institute of Health and Environmental Medicine , Tianjin , China.
authors.forename: Junwen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000537:Aluminum Oxide / Q000737:chemistry / Q000633:toxicity*; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics*; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics; D022761:Gene Transfer, Horizontal; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D017404:In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence; D049329:Nanostructures / Q000737:chemistry / Q000633:toxicity*; D010957:Plasmids / Q000235:genetics; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D000537:Aluminum Oxide
keywords: Antibiotic resistance genes; microarray; nano-Al2O3; reactive oxygen species; transformation