We uncover hundreds of inhibitory interactions between industrial and agricultural chemicals and gut bacteria. Systematic genetic analyses reveal bacterial survival mechanisms against pollutants and their commonality with antibiotic resistance. Our data enable machine learning-based predictive toxicology and make a case for considering antibacterial activity in chemical safety assessment.
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References
Maier, L. et al. Extensive impact of non-antibiotic drugs on human gut bacteria. Nature 555, 623–628 (2018). This article reports an extensive chemical–bacteria screen of human-targeted drugs in a panel of gut bacteria, revealing unintended antibiotic activity of common medication.
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This is a summary of: Roux, I. et al. Industrial and agricultural chemicals exhibit antimicrobial activity against human gut bacteria in vitro. Nat. Microbiol. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-025-02182-6 (2025).
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Common chemical pollutants inhibit human gut bacteria. Nat Microbiol 10, 3047–3048 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-025-02211-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-025-02211-4
