Evaluating the combined effects of environmental pollutants on the evolution of antimicrobial resistance

项目背景抗菌素耐药性(AMR)是现代社会面临的最大威胁之一。人们越来越认识到，环境在AMR的进化、出现和传播中发挥着重要作用。抗生素从各种来源进入环境，它们驻留在低浓度，已被证明是AMR的选择。然而，到目前为止，大多数研究只研究了单一抗生素的影响，尽管环境中的抗生素与其他污染物的复杂混合物可能是AMR的共同选择。项目目标和方法越来越多的研究表明，抗生素的最低选择性浓度可以非常低，与环境中测得的抗生素浓度相似。因此，抗生素污染可能会选择环境中的抗菌素耐药性。然而，许多其他环境污染物表现出抗微生物活性，这些污染物也可能产生有利于耐药细菌的选择压力。该项目将探索抗生素和其他污染物对抗菌素耐药性演变的潜在混合影响。我们鼓励申请者积极参与研究的设计和指导。

Project BackgroundAntimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the greatest threats to modern society. The environment is increasingly recognised as playing an important role in the evolution, emergence, and dissemination of AMR. Antibiotics enter the environment from a variety of sources, where they reside at low concentrations that have been shown to select for AMR. However, most research to date has only studied effects of single antibiotics, despite the fact antibiotics in the environment are found in complex mixtures with other pollutants that could co-select for AMR. Project Aims and MethodsA growing body of research has demonstrated that the minimal selective concentrations of antibiotics can be very low, similar to concentrations of antibiotics measured in the environment. Antibiotic pollution may therefore select for antimicrobial resistance in the environment. However, many other environmental pollutants exhibit antimicrobial activity, and these may also generate a selective pressure that favours resistant bacteria. This project will explore the potential mixture effects of antibiotics and other pollutants on the evolution of antimicrobial resistance. We encourage applicants to be actively involved in the design and direction of the research.