Methylparaben as an environmental contaminant modulating virulence traits in waterborne bacteria

IF 8 1区环境科学与生态学 Q1 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

Science of the Total Environment Pub Date : 2025-07-21 DOI:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2025.180076

Ana Rita Pereira , Liliana Grenho , Inês B. Gomes , Maria Helena Fernandes , Manuel Simões

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Abstract

Methylparaben (MP), a preservative found in daily-use products, can reach drinking water (DW) due to its incomplete removal in water treatment plants. Although parabens are related to endocrine disruption, their effects on bacterial virulence as environmental contaminants remain to be understood. This study investigates the effect of MP at environmental concentrations (15 μg/L) on the virulence of planktonic and biofilm cells of Acinetobacter calcoaceticus and Stenotrophomonas maltophilia isolated from a drinking water distribution system. The impact of MP on bacterial growth and outer membrane vesicles (OMVs) release was assessed, including the size of OMVs and lipid and protein content. The ability of MP-exposed and non-exposed bacterial cells to form biofilms and the potential to invade human gingival fibroblasts (HGF) were also studied. The exposure to MP causes more changes in S. maltophilia OMVs than in A. calcoaceticus. Increased lipid content in MP-exposed S. maltophilia biofilm-derived OMVs was observed. However, a lower concentration of OMVs and lipid content was found in S. maltophilia planktonic cells. The OMVs produced by MP-exposed biofilm-derived cells of A. calcoaceticus had a larger hydrodynamic diameter (Dₕ), whereas those from planktonic cells had a smaller Dₕ compared to the controls. Enhanced biofilm formation was found for both MP-exposed bacteria, and MP-exposed A. calcoaceticus planktonic cells showed a heightened ability to invade HGF, resulting in higher intracellular bacterial counts and increased replication. The overall findings underscore the impact of MP on DW bacteria, suggesting that MP can amplify interconnected bacterial virulence mechanisms, raising potential public health concerns.

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对羟基苯甲酸甲酯作为环境污染物调节水生细菌的毒力特性

对羟基苯甲酸甲酯（Methylparaben， MP）是一种存在于日用产品中的防腐剂，由于在水处理厂中去除不完全，可能会进入饮用水（DW）。虽然对羟基苯甲酸酯与内分泌干扰有关，但它们作为环境污染物对细菌毒力的影响仍有待研究。本研究研究了环境浓度（15 μg/L）的MP对饮用水配水系统中钙酸不动杆菌和嗜麦芽窄养单胞菌浮游细胞和生物膜细胞毒力的影响。评估了MP对细菌生长和外膜囊泡（omv）释放的影响，包括omv的大小、脂质和蛋白质含量。我们还研究了暴露于mp和未暴露于mp的细菌细胞形成生物膜的能力以及侵入人牙龈成纤维细胞（HGF）的潜力。暴露于MP导致嗜麦芽葡萄球菌omv比嗜钙葡萄球菌omv发生更多的变化。观察到mp暴露的嗜麦芽葡萄球菌生物膜衍生的omv中脂质含量增加。然而，在嗜麦芽酵母浮游细胞中发现了较低的omv浓度和脂质含量。与对照相比，暴露于mp的a . calcoaceticus生物膜来源细胞产生的omv具有较大的水动力直径（Dₕ），而浮游细胞产生的omv具有较小的Dₕ。暴露于mp的细菌和暴露于mp的a . calcoaceticus浮游细胞的生物膜形成增强，它们侵入HGF的能力增强，导致细胞内细菌数量增加和复制增加。总体研究结果强调了MP对DW细菌的影响，表明MP可以放大相互关联的细菌毒力机制，从而引起潜在的公共卫生问题。

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来源期刊

Science of the Total Environment 环境科学-环境科学

CiteScore

17.60

自引率

10.20%

发文量

8726

审稿时长

2.4 months

期刊介绍： The Science of the Total Environment is an international journal dedicated to scientific research on the environment and its interaction with humanity. It covers a wide range of disciplines and seeks to publish innovative, hypothesis-driven, and impactful research that explores the entire environment, including the atmosphere, lithosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, and anthroposphere. The journal's updated Aims & Scope emphasizes the importance of interdisciplinary environmental research with broad impact. Priority is given to studies that advance fundamental understanding and explore the interconnectedness of multiple environmental spheres. Field studies are preferred, while laboratory experiments must demonstrate significant methodological advancements or mechanistic insights with direct relevance to the environment.