ArticleThe ISME journal2021
Nonnutritive sweeteners can promote the dissemination of antibiotic resistance through conjugative gene transfer.
Article in The ISME journal, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 67 papers.
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Who cites it
67 citing papers in PubMed, 274 citations in OpenAlex.
- A sucralose-based sweetener promotes biofilm formation and plasmid-mediated antibiotic resistance transfer in opportunistic gut bacteria.Archives of microbiology · 2026Article
- Soil to host environmental determinants fueling horizontal gene transfer and global AMR dissemination.Folia microbiologica · 2026Review
- Glyphosate Promotes the Spread of Antibiotic Resistance Genes in the Intestine: An Overlooked Environmental Risk.Toxics · 2026Article
- Pathogen species and capsule expression shape opportunistic transfer and the recipient response during plasmid RP4 conjugation.Communications biology · 2026Article
- Cyromazine accelerates the dissemination of antimicrobial resistance genes by promoting the conjugative transfer of the SXT integrative conjugative element.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Extracellular vesicles drive stress-induced antibiotic resistance spread in soil.Environmental science and ecotechnology · 2026Article
- Re-evaluation of sucralose (E 955) as a food additive and evaluation of a new application on extension of use of sucralose (E 955) in fine bakery wares.EFSA journal. European Food Safety Authority · 2026Article
- Membrane perturbation by the last-resort antibiotic polymyxin B drives biphasic regulation of horizontal gene transfer.The ISME journal · 2026Article
- Bile acid metabolism dysregulation following Helicobacter pylori eradication promotes plasmid-mediated antimicrobial resistance in the gut microbiome.The ISME journal · 2026Article
- Conjugation as an evolutionary bottleneck in antimicrobial resistance spread.Frontiers in microbiology · 2026Review
- Roles of micro/nanoplastics in the spread of antimicrobial resistance through conjugative gene transfer.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Microplastic biofilm as hotspots of antibiotic resistance genes and potential pathogens.NPJ biofilms and microbiomes · 2025Review
- The butterfly effect: collateral damage and impacts of antimicrobial strategies on the oral microbiome.npj antimicrobials and resistance · 2025Review
- Bacterial evolution in the oral microbiome: the role of conjugative elements and horizontal gene transfer.Journal of bacteriology · 2025Review
- Diet's impact on gut microbial assemblage in health and disease.The Journal of clinical investigation · 2025Review
- IncI2 plasmid transfer and changes of intestinal microbiota in mice under β-lactam antibiotic pressure.BMC veterinary research · 2025Article
- Saccharin disrupts bacterial cell envelope stability and interferes with DNA replication dynamics.EMBO molecular medicine · 2025Article
- Artificial Sweeteners: A Double-Edged Sword for Gut Microbiome.Diseases (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Effects of Cigarette-Derived Compounds on the Spread of Antimicrobial Resistance in Artificial Human Lung Sputum Medium, Simulated Environmental Media, and Wastewater.Environmental health perspectives · 2025Article
- The non-nutritive sweetener rebaudioside a enhances phage infectivity.Scientific reports · 2025Article
7 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) poses a worldwide threat to human health and biosecurity. The spread of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) via conjugative plasmid transfer is a major contributor to the evolution of this resistance. Although permitted as safe food additives, compounds such as saccharine, sucralose, aspartame, and acesulfame potassium that are commonly used as nonnutritive sweeteners have recently been associated with shifts in the gut microbiota similar to those caused by antibiotics. As antibiotics can promote the spread of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), we hypothesize that these nonnutritive sweeteners could have a similar effect. Here, we demonstrate for the first time that saccharine, sucralose, aspartame, and acesulfame potassium could promote plasmid-mediated conjugative transfer in three established conjugation models between the same and different phylogenetic strains. The real-time dynamic conjugation process was visualized at the single-cell level. Bacteria exposed to the tested compounds exhibited increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, the SOS response, and gene transfer. In addition, cell membrane permeability increased in both parental bacteria under exposure to the tested compounds. The expression of genes involved in ROS detoxification, the SOS response, and cell membrane permeability was significantly upregulated under sweetener treatment. In conclusion, exposure to nonnutritive sweeteners enhances conjugation in bacteria. Our findings provide insight into AMR spread and indicate the potential risk associated with the presence of nonnutritive sweeteners.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.