近日，广东工业大学环境健康与污染控制研究院、环境科学与工程学院安太成教授团队题为《Different Fitness Costs during Biofilm Growth from Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria to Antibiotic-Sensitive Bacteria Under the Toxicity Stress of Copper Substrate》的学术论文在ACS ES&T Water杂志( 2025，5，1546-1556, https://doi.org/10.1021/acsestwater.4c00603)发表，并被评选为内封面文章。论文的第一作者为博士生陈敏、硕士毕业生王佳萍，通讯作者为安太成教授。该研究主要关注在铜基底毒胁迫下耐药菌生物膜和敏感菌生物膜的生长适应性成本的差异，揭示了在铜毒胁迫下耐药菌生物膜较易感菌生物膜生长的更好的现象以及其发生的内在原因。该研究为在给水系统以及供暖系统中铜产品的使用提供了一定的警示作用，对后续深入探讨控制和消除生物膜污染具有一定的指导意义。

论文DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acsestwater.4c00603

水质安全问题受全世界广泛关注，已经采取了各种措施来改善水质，铜管及其制品由于它们天然的杀菌能力被广泛用于供水以及供暖系统。由于抗生素耐药细菌(ARB)和抗生素耐药基因(ARGs)的出现和广泛传播，水安全问题变得越来越严重。这使人们怀疑铜制产品是否仍然可以有效抑制ARB的生长。因此，需要进一步研究铜制品上耐药菌生物膜的形成。先前的研究表明，铜基底可以抑制敏感菌形成生物膜。然而铜基底对耐药菌生物膜的影响尚未得到彻底的研究。本研究旨在从耐药基因的角度探讨铜基质上耐药生物膜的生长情况。本文用两株具有代表性的大肠杆菌(抗生素敏感菌 E. coli DH5α和抗生素耐药菌 E. coli DH5α (CTX))在铜底物上培养生物膜，空白底物作为对照。研究结果表明，携带抗生素耐药质粒的生物膜比在铜底物上的抗生素敏感生物膜生长得更好，这是由于ARGs使细菌能够更好的抵抗不利的环境条件。与铜基质上的ASB相比，ARB形成的生物膜具有更高的细菌丰度、更大的厚度和更高的EPS浓度。ARB生物膜也具有较低的氧化应激水平，并且更好地适应铜底物。ARB的生物膜形成主要由c-di-GMP激活的信号通路所触发，而不是由细胞内ROS激活的SOS信号通路触发。总之，尽管还需要进一步的研究来确定是否存在与抗生素耐药性相关的适应性代价，但本研究的发现有助于了解铜基底上耐抗生素生物膜的定植。这非常有助于引起公众对供水和供暖系统中使用铜管道和产品的极大关注。

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ABSTRACT:

In water supply systems, copper pipes are commonly used to prevent bacterial growth and biofilm formation. However, it is uncertain whether copper can effectively inhibit antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB) biofilm formation, which is crucial for water supply safety. This study examined the difference in biofilm formation between ARB and antibiotic-sensitive bacteria (ASB) on copper surfaces by measuring extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) content. In the blank control group, ASB biofilms outperformed ARB biofilms; however, when exposed to copper, the bacterial abundance of ARB biofilm was 10^0.5–10^1.0times higher than that of ASB biofilms, and the EPS content was also 10^1.1–10^1.9times higher. This disparity was mainly attributed to the varying fitness costs of ARB in different environments. Furthermore, the oxidative stress response of ARB was significantly lower than that of ASB on a copper substrate, and the intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) level in ARB was only 78.7% of ASB. Gene expression patterns revealed that ARB biofilm formation on the copper substrate was mainly caused by the c-di-GMP-activated signaling pathway rather than the SOS stress system activated by ROS. These findings have implications for the choice of copper products in water supply systems.