How stress on the environment can affect antimicrobial bacteria resistance.

By. Carolina Perez

The illustration of an invasion within a resistance bacteria including what models were added to the rivers microbiome sample. Along with a scale resulting from both rivers and the amount of bacterial invasion throughout a time period. Figure taken from Bagra et al. 2023.

Different life cycles can show how multiple species affect each other in a living community, population or ecosystem. The same goes for human interactions within the environment, most people don't understand how greatly we are interconnected with our ecosystem. An example of this is the addition of antimicrobial resistant bacteria invaders caused by the overall stress of the environment, most likely through our wastewater. A study in Germany set out to discover how microbial communities are impacted by stressed surroundings that multiply invasive bacteria, by introducing those communities to E.Coli CM2372 and Copper (Cu^2+) as a model stressor, mimicking familiar pathogens found in wastewater. The study consisted of samples from two different rivers in Germany, both rich in microbial biofilms which were naturally grown. Each sample was observed and categorized throughout a series of plating, both with and without the exposure to stress. The overall results by Bagra and colleagues concluded that the resistance a microbial community has toward a foreign bacteria resistance is affected by environmental stressors. Much so that the diversity of microbial communities are significantly changing, leading to a higher tolerance of invasive bacteria through resistant bacteria. However, in order to control antimicrobial resistance exposure within wastewater effluents found in the river, all forms of invasive bacteria resistance has to be deducted. Therefore, its vital for the continued survival for both humans and microbes that we take better care of the environment. Starting with the control of waste materials and its exposure toward nature, learning how to properly degrade and dispose of unwanted trash can improve our health in more ways than one.

Original Article:

Bagra, K., Bellanger, X., Merlin, C., Singh, G., Berendonk, T. U., & Klümper, U. (2023). Environmental stress increases the invasion success of antimicrobial resistant bacteria in river microbial communities. Science of the Total Environment, 904, 166661. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.166661