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Sub-inhibitory concentrations of antibiotics and wastewater influencing biofilm formation and gene expression of multi-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa wastewater isolates

  • Wastewater Reuse Applications and Contaminants of Emerging Concern (WRA & CEC 2012)
  • Published:
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Abstract

Sub-inhibitory concentrations of antibiotics, which are found in environmental water systems and sewage plants due to an increased use in therapeutical and preventive fields, influence bacterial behavior in biofilms. The application of sulfamethoxazole, erythromycin, and roxithromycin induced changes in biofilm dynamics regarding biomass formation, spatial structure and specific gene expression in different Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates. Exposing multi-resistant environmental isolated strains for 17 h to environmental concentrations of antibiotics or wastewater, directly, an increase in biofilm biomass and thickness could be observed for each strain. Additionally, multi-resistant strains responded to the applied growth conditions with changes in transcriptional activity. Here, sub-inhibitory concentrations of macrolides specifically upregulated expression of quorum sensing genes (rhlR, lasI), whereas sulfonamides and municipal wastewater, instead upregulated expression of specific resistant genes (sul1) and efflux pumps (mexD). Antibiotic sensitive isolates demonstrated an overall higher transcriptionally activity, but did not show a specific gene response to the applied exogenous stimuli. Furthermore, the presence of low concentrated antibiotics induced also phenotypical change in the biofilm architecture observed by 3D-imaging.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology KIT for supporting this study and the development team of COMSTAT2 for providing the software.

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  1. Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Campus North, Institute of Functional Interfaces (IFG), Microbiology of Natural and Technical Interfaces Department, Herman-von-Helmholtz-Platz 1, 76344, Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany

    Julia Bruchmann, Silke Kirchen & Thomas Schwartz

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  1. Julia Bruchmann
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  2. Silke Kirchen
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  3. Thomas Schwartz
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Correspondence to Thomas Schwartz.

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Responsible editor: Robert Duran

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Bruchmann, J., Kirchen, S. & Schwartz, T. Sub-inhibitory concentrations of antibiotics and wastewater influencing biofilm formation and gene expression of multi-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa wastewater isolates. Environ Sci Pollut Res 20, 3539–3549 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-013-1521-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-013-1521-4

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