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Hidden risks in the ARctic Plastisphere: a reservoir of Antibiotic resistance Genes in remote freshwater Ecosystems (HARPAGE)
Call year: 2026
Status: active
IADC_id: 823
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Project description:
Polar regions, with limited direct human impact, may better reflect antibiotic resistance (AR) patterns typical of the pre-antibiotic era. However, AR in these areas may arise due to increasing tourism, human presence at research stations, outdated sewage systems, migrating wildlife (e.g., birds), and the transport of microplastics (MPs), which can carry antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB). MPs offer surfaces for microbial colonization, creating a "plastisphere" that alters microbial diversity and function. These plastics also absorb toxic compounds such as persistent organic pollutants (POPs), PAHs, PCBs, phthalates, pesticides, and heavy metals. These substances may promote antibiotic resistance and bioaccumulate through the food web. Microplastics (MPs) have already been detected in polar environments, raising significant ecological concern. Yet, while marine environments have received more attention, data on MPs and associated plastispheres in polar freshwater systems remain scarce. Recent studies show that high Arctic freshwater hosts complex microbial assemblages—prokaryotes, eukaryotes, and fungi—often with greater diversity on MPs than in surrounding water. Antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) also appear enriched on MPs. Studying AR in these low-impact environments offers a baseline to understand the contribution of wildlife and environmental vectors to AR spread. To date, prokaryotic communities, ARBs, and ARGs have been rarely studied in Arctic lakes and rivers. This research is especially urgent in the context of climate change, as warming and ice melt are rapidly reshaping Arctic ecosystems. Understanding how these shifts influence microbial communities and the distribution of ARGs is critical to assess environmental and public health risks in this fragile region. By HARPAGE, studying the diversity and abundance of ARGs and ARBs transported by microplastics (MPs) in low-impact Arctic regions will offer key insights into the mechanisms driving gene diversity and the evolution of antibiotic resistance. HARPAGE aims to provide a reference point for MP-mediated AR in natural environments. Specifically, it will: 1) Expand the limited knowledge on the plastisphere and its role in Arctic freshwater systems; 2) Assess chemical contamination levels, focusing on underexplored emerging contaminants such as pharmaceuticals and personal care products; 3) Improve understanding of ARG evolution by analyzing microbiome and resistome patterns through metagenomics. Our research proposal aligns closely with the key insights and priorities outlined in the SESS Report 2024, within the Chapter 6 “Microbial communities as sentinels of environmental changes in Svalbard (MicroSIOS)” (https://sios-svalbard.org/SESS_Issue7). Activities carried out by HARPAGE will generate the following datasets on: the plastisphere composition; contaminants absorbed over-time by plastics; prokaryotic diversity at phylum, family and genus level; the occurrence and distribution of ARBs (including pathogenic ones) and ARGs (restistome); metadata on sampling areas (including physical-chemical data); repository of 16 S rRNA sequences; repository of cold-adapted bacterial isolates to be maintained in pure culture and made available to the scientific community for future research purposes; repository of sample aliquots at -20°C to be made available to the scientific community for future research purposes. Both discovery metadata and the actual data generated using SIOS infrastructure will be submitted to a data centre integrated with the SIOS Data Management System.
National/International Cooperation:
National: Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn (SZN, Italy) International: Institute of Geophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences (IGF-PAN, Poland)
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