Antimicrobial agents and microbial ecology

Patrick Di Martino; Patrick Di Martino

doi:10.3934/microbiol.2022001

AIMS Microbiology

2022, Volume 8, Issue 1: 1-4. doi: 10.3934/microbiol.2022001

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Editorial Special Issues

Antimicrobial agents and microbial ecology

Patrick Di Martino ^,

Groupe Biofilm et Comportement Microbien aux Interfaces, Laboratoire ERRMECe Cergy Paris Université, 1 rue Descartes 95000 Neuville-sur-Oise, cedex, France

Received: 30 December 2021 Revised: 05 January 2022 Accepted: 05 January 2022 Published: 06 January 2022

Antimicrobials are therapeutic substances used to prevent or treat infections. Disinfectants are antimicrobial agents applied to non-living surfaces. Every year, several thousand tonnes of antimicrobials and their by-products are released into the environment and in particular into the aquatic environment. This type of xenobiotic has ecological consequences in the natural environment but also in technological environments such as wastewater treatment plants and methane fermentation sewage sludge treatment plants. The constant exposure of microbial communities not only to high concentrations but also to sub-inhibitory concentrations of antibiotics is a key element in the development of antibiotic resistance in aquatic environments and in soils. The future of antimicrobials lies in the development of biosourced or bioinspired molecules. The observation and deciphering of interactions between living organisms is the key to this development.
- Antimicrobial,
- antibiotic,
- disinfectant,
- resistance,
- ecology,
- biosourced,
- bioinspired
Citation: Patrick Di Martino. Antimicrobial agents and microbial ecology[J]. AIMS Microbiology, 2022, 8(1): 1-4. doi: 10.3934/microbiol.2022001

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Abstract

Antimicrobials are therapeutic substances used to prevent or treat infections. Disinfectants are antimicrobial agents applied to non-living surfaces. Every year, several thousand tonnes of antimicrobials and their by-products are released into the environment and in particular into the aquatic environment. This type of xenobiotic has ecological consequences in the natural environment but also in technological environments such as wastewater treatment plants and methane fermentation sewage sludge treatment plants. The constant exposure of microbial communities not only to high concentrations but also to sub-inhibitory concentrations of antibiotics is a key element in the development of antibiotic resistance in aquatic environments and in soils. The future of antimicrobials lies in the development of biosourced or bioinspired molecules. The observation and deciphering of interactions between living organisms is the key to this development.

Acknowledgments

This work has been supported by CNRS GDR 2088 ‘BIOMIM’.

Conflict of interest

The author declares no conflicts of interest in this article.

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