https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-08/uog-plt081320.php
News Release 13-Aug-2020
University of Georgia
Antibiotic resistance is an increasing health problem, but new research suggests it is not only caused by the overuse of antibiotics. It's also caused by pollution.
Using a process known as genomic analysis, University of Georgia scientists found a strong correlation between antibiotic resistance and heavy metal contamination in an environment.
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"The overuse of antibiotics in the environment adds additional selection pressure on microorganisms that accelerates their ability to resist multiple classes of antibiotics. But antibiotics aren't the only source of selection pressure," Thomas said. "Many bacteria possess genes that simultaneously work on multiple compounds that would be toxic to the cell, and this includes metals."
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Unlike antibiotics, heavy metals don't degrade in the environment so
"they can exert long-standing pressure," according to Glenn, who also
directs the Institute of Bioinformatics.
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