Draft:Plastiome

Plastiome refers to the plastisphere-enriched mobile resistome found in aquatic environments. With persistence of plastics and microplastics in the environment, these act as reservoirs for microbial communities and antibiotic resistance genes, fostering the formation of a mobile resistome encompassing diverse antibiotic, biocide/metal resistance genes, and mobile genetic elements. This collective genetic repertoire, plastome, can potentially perpetuate environmental antimicrobial resistance (AMR). This plastiome in fresh water environments have shown more than three times higher enrichment of antibiotic on microplastics than those in water, and it has been reported that some of the identified taxa attached to the plastics could be potential pathogens and pose a risk to human health and the environment.

Plastiome in Environment
Microplastics are persistent, very mobile and hard to remove from nature. Hence, these plastiomes could perpetuate harmful multidrug resistance genes in microbes in the environment. Plastiomes were identified and reported in two rivers near Tokyo, Japan.

Plastiome and Health Risk
The health risks of plastiome can be recognized from four aspects, 1). pathogens residing within the plastisphere, 2). potential acquisition of antimicrobial resistance though horizontal gene transfer, 3). increased tolerance to antibiotics , and 4). trophic transfer through food web s. Microplastics trophic transfer through food webs has been researched and well documented. Further the evidence indicates that the ratio of pathogens to total bacteria, as well as the presence of resistance genes , is significantly higher in the plastisphere compared to surrounding water. This raises concerns that the plastiome poses additional health risks associated to antimicrobial resistance in aquatic environments.