EDITORIAL article
Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Antimicrobials, Resistance and Chemotherapy
This article is part of the Research TopicImpacts of Metal and Xenobiotic-Induced Stress on Antibiotic Resistance in Microbial CommunitiesView all 7 articles
Editorial: Impacts of Metal and Xenobiotic-Induced Stress on Antibiotic Resistance in Microbial Communities
Provisionally accepted
- 1Chulabhorn Research Institute Laboratory of Biotechnology, Bangkok, Thailand
- 2Warsaw University of Life Sciences, Faculty of Biology and Biotechnology, Institute of Biology, Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Warsaw, Poland
- 3University of Nottingham School of Biosciences, Sutton Bonington, United Kingdom
- 4University of Warsaw, Faculty of Biology, Institute of Microbiology, Department of Applied Microbiology, Warsaw, Poland
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Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is recognized by the World Health Organization as one of the most 14 serious global threats to public health and sustainable development. Although antibiotic misuse and 15 overuse remain the primary drivers, there is increasing awareness that other anthropogenic stressors-16 such as toxic and essential metals, biocides, disinfectants, and xenobiotics-also play a crucial roles in 17 promoting resistance. These substances, widely used in medicine, agriculture, and industry, often enter 18 the environment through wastewater or surface runoff, where they can co-select for resistant bacteria 19 and resistance genes even in the absence of antibiotics. 20The environmental dimension of AMR, long overshadowed by clinical research, is now recognized as 21 integral to the One Health concept that links human, animal, and ecosystem health.
Keywords: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR), Anthropogenic stressors, microbiome, Metals, Microplastic, co-selection, horizontal gene transfer (HGT), AMR mitigation strategies
Received: 12 Nov 2025; Accepted: 13 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Sukchawalit, Goryluk-Salmonowicz, Hobman and Popowska. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Magdalena Popowska, ma.popowska@uw.edu.pl
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