2022/03/10 by Naíla Barbosa da Costa, Marie‐Pier Hébert, Vincent Fugère +4 · 1 citation
Environmental Science · Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · #Pesticide and Herbicide Environmental Studies #Pharmaceutical and Antibiotic Environmental Impacts #CRISPR and Genetic Engineering
paper · doi:10.1128/msystems.01482-21
openalex publication_date 2022/03/10 · openalex created_date 2022/04/03 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
Glyphosate-based herbicides (GBHs) such as Roundup formulations may have the unintended consequence of selecting for antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), as demonstrated in previous experiments. However, the effects of GBHs on ARGs remain unknown in natural aquatic communities, which are often contaminated with pesticides from agricultural runoff. Moreover, the resistance provided by ARGs compared to canonical mutations in the glyphosate target enzyme, EPSPS, remains unclear. Here, we performed a freshwater mesocosm experiment showing that a GBH strongly selects for ARGs, particularly multidrug efflux pumps. These selective effects were evident after just a few days, and the ability of bacteria to survive and thrive after GBH stress was predictable by the number of ARGs in their genomes and, to a lesser extent, by mutations in EPSPS. Intensive GBH application may therefore have the unintended consequence of selecting for ARGs in natural freshwater communities.