Selective colonization of microplastics, wood and glass by antimicrobial-resistant and pathogenic bacteria
Emily M. Stevenson, Owen Rushby-Jones, Angus Buckling, Matthew Cole, Penelope K. Lindeque, Aimee K. Murray
Abstract
(ExPECs). From this, polystyrene and wood particles were found to significantly enrich AMR bacteria, whereas sewage-sourced bio-beads significantly enriched ExPECs. Polystyrene and wood were the least smooth particles, and so the importance of particle roughness on AMR prevalence was then directly investigated by comparing the colonization of virgin vs artificially weathered polyethylene particles. Surface weathering did not have a significant effect on the AMR prevalence of colonized particles. Our results suggest that the colonization of plastic and non-plastic particles by AMR and pathogenic bacteria may be enhanced by substrate-specific traits.