Published in Scientific Papers. Series E. Land Reclamation, Earth Observation & Surveying, Environmental Engineering, Vol. VIII
Written by Cristian Mihai AURORI, Daniel Severus DEZMIREAN
Silver cations are the building blocks of silver based antimicrobial traditional therapies, which are known and used by man for centuries. However, when facing heavy metals, bacterial genetic plasticity can induce the development of adaptive mechanisms required for survival under such major microbe-associated stressors. Whether they act as part of the natural environment, polluted industrial sites or medical antimicrobial protocols, silver ions are systematically exerting a selection pressure on bacterial communities. Thus, sublethal doses of silver ions stimulate inter-bacterial genetic material exchange and the expression of chromosome or plasmid located genes, which encode proteins with biochemical capabilities to counteract their harmful effects. Depending on Gram stain corresponding traits, species and strains, bacteria interact with silver ions at both cellular envelope and internal structure levels. The continued spread of using silver-based materials in the recent years offered opportunities to discover novel antimicrobial strategies but equally induced an increase in bacterial resistance and adaptation against this chemical element.
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