Moss-associated metabolites decrease antibiotic-resistant Enterobacterales in urban environment

Area of Science:

• Environmental microbiology
• Ecology
• Biochemistry

Background:

• Human activities accelerate antibiotic resistance gene (ARG) spread, posing environmental and public health risks.
• Plant-microbe interactions influence soil environments and ARG mitigation, but moss roles are understudied.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the impact of moss cover on ARG abundance and microbial communities in urban and suburban soils.
• To identify moss metabolites involved in ARG mitigation and understand their mechanisms of action.

Main Methods:

• Paired soil surveys (moss-covered vs. bare) in urban/suburban parks.
• Analysis of ARG abundance and microbial composition (Enterobacterales).
• Microcosm experiments with moss metabolite cristacarpin and molecular simulations.

Main Results:

• Moss cover significantly reduced ARG abundance, especially in urban parks.
• Mosses suppressed Enterobacterales, a key ARG host, via cristacarpin accumulation.
• Cristacarpin demonstrated ARG and Enterobacterales reduction in microcosms; molecular simulations implicated MlaC binding.

Conclusions:

• Mosses, through cristacarpin, offer a nature-based strategy to mitigate ARGs in human-impacted environments.
• Mosses can reduce high-risk bacterial hosts and associated ARGs.
• Findings support mosses as a scalable solution for antimicrobial resistance mitigation worldwide.