Chlorine disinfectants promote microbial resistance in Pseudomonas sp

Chaoyu Tong; Hong Hu; Gang Chen; Zhengyan Li; Aifeng Li; Jianye Zhang

doi:10.1016/j.envres.2021.111296

Chlorine disinfectants promote microbial resistance in Pseudomonas sp

Environ Res. 2021 Aug:199:111296. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2021.111296. Epub 2021 May 16.

Authors

Chaoyu Tong¹, Hong Hu², Gang Chen³, Zhengyan Li⁴, Aifeng Li⁵, Jianye Zhang⁶

Affiliations

¹ Collage of Environmental Science and Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266100, China. Electronic address: chaoytong@163.com.
² Collage of Environmental Science and Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266100, China. Electronic address: hhu@ouc.edu.cn.
³ College of Marine Life Sciences, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266003, China. Electronic address: chengang@ouc.edu.cn.
⁴ Collage of Environmental Science and Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266100, China. Electronic address: zhengyan@ouc.edu.cn.
⁵ Collage of Environmental Science and Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266100, China. Electronic address: lafouc@ouc.edu.cn.
⁶ College of Marine Life Sciences, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266003, China. Electronic address: jyzhang@ouc.edu.cn.

PMID: 34010624
DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2021.111296

Abstract

The substantial use of disinfectants has increased antibiotic resistance, thereby mediating serious ecological safety issues worldwide. Accumulating studies have reported the role of chlorine disinfectants in promoting disinfectant resistance. The present study sought to investigate the role of chlorine disinfectants in developing multiple resistance in Pseudomonas sp. isolated from the river through antioxidant enzyme measurement, global transcriptional analyses, Gene Ontology (GO), and the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analysis. The results demonstrated that 100 mg/L sodium hypochlorite could increase disinfectant resistance and antibiotic resistance. The SOS response (a conserved response to DNA damage) triggered by oxidative stress makes bacteria resistant to chlorine. An increase in antibiotic resistance could be attributed to a decreased membrane permeability, increased expression of MuxABC-OpmB efflux pump, beta-lactamase, and antioxidant enzymes. Additionally, KEGG enrichment analysis suggested that the differentially expressed genes were highly enriched in the metabolic pathways. In summary, the study results revealed the impact of chlorine disinfectants in promoting microbial disinfectant resistance and antibiotic resistance. This study will provide insight into disinfectant resistance mechanisms.

Keywords: Chlorine disinfectants; Multidrug resistance; Oxidative stress; SOS response; Transcriptomic analysis.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Bacteria
Chlorine
Disinfectants* / toxicity
Drug Resistance, Microbial
Pseudomonas

Substances

Disinfectants
Chlorine