The risk of bacterial virulence in the face of concentrated river pollution

Abstract

The decrease in low-water flows and the increase in water temperature and other parameters as observed in the rivers over the last 50 years suggest that a concentration of compounds and pollutants is taking place, in connection with climate change and/or anthropisation (without discerning their respective contributions). These effects occur in a context where the rivers are already impacted by the presence of many pollutant cocktails (pesticides, drugs, and others). The authors now show that these pollutant cocktails – at the environmental concentrations currently found – constitute a threat to human health through their possible effects on the virulence of pathogenic bacteria. While certain genes of Salmonella Typhimurium may not experience an increased risk, the exposure to more concentrated cocktails (at a five-fold concentration) could potentially amplify certain virulent factors such as the motility of Pseudomonas aeruginosa H103. The findings indicate that pollution mixtures have an effect on the virulence potential of certain waterborne pathogenic bacteria, even at concentrations currently observed in rivers.