摘要
      耐多药细菌的流行和传播对公共卫生构成了全球性挑战。自然转化是抗生素抗性基因水平转移的重要途径之一。虽然在新冠肺炎期间经常使用消毒剂，但这些消毒剂是否与质粒携带的ARG的转化有关尚不清楚。在我们的研究中，我们使用抗性质粒作为细胞外DNA，大肠杆菌DH5α作为受体细菌，评估了一些消毒剂对细菌转化的影响。结果表明，这些与环境相关浓度的消毒剂，包括苯扎溴铵（BB）、苯扎氯铵（BC）和聚六亚甲基胍盐酸盐（PHMG），显著增强了质粒编码的ARGs的转化。此外，我们还研究了消毒剂促进转化的机制。我们发现，消毒剂的添加显著增加了膜的通透性，并促进了膜相关基因的表达。此外，消毒剂可促进细菌呼吸、ATP产生和鞭毛运动，并增加细菌分泌系统相关基因的表达。总之，我们的发现深入了解了ARGs通过细菌转化的传播，并表明了与消毒剂广泛使用相关的潜在风险。
Abstract
The prevalence and spread of multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria pose a global challenge to public health. Natural transformation is one of the essential ways for horizontal transfer of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs). Although disinfectants are frequently used during COVID-19, little is known about whether these disinfectants are associated with the transformation of plasmid-borne ARGs. In our study, we assessed the effect of some disinfectants on bacterial transformation using resistance plasmids as extracellular DNA and E. coli DH5α as the recipient bacteria. The results showed that these disinfectants at environmentally relevant concentrations, including benzalkonium bromide (BB), benzalkonium chloride (BC) and polyhexamethylene guanidine hydrochloride (PHMG), significantly enhanced the transformation of plasmid-encoded ARGs. Furthermore, we investigated the mechanisms underlying the promotive effect of disinfectants on transformation. We revealed that the addition of disinfectants significantly increased the membrane permeability and promoted membrane-related genes expression. Moreover, disinfectants led to the boosted bacterial respiration, ATP production and flagellum motility, as well as increased expression of bacterial secretion system-related genes. Together, our findings shed insights into the spread of ARGs through bacterial transformation and indicate potential risks associated with the widespread use of disinfectants.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0147651323001823