Adaption/resistance to antimicrobial nanoparticles: Will it be a problem?

The widespread application of nanomaterials in various fields will lead to their potential deposition in the natural environment, thus facilitating prolonged microbial exposure. In particular, antimicrobial nanoparticles have been developed as a promising tool to combat antibiotic resistance and have been incorporated into assorted medical care and consumer goods. With the increasing awareness of bacterial resistance to nanosilver, we advise that there is a critical need to scrutinize the emergence, prevalence and spread of microbial adaption/resistance to various nanoparticles. In this review, we describe how the exposure scenarios of antimicrobial nanoparticles resemble those of classic antibiotics, compare the phenotypic and genotypic resistance traits with those of antibiotic resistance, underscore the nanostructural effect in the modulation of resistance evolution, and discuss the potential implications of nanoresistance for drug resistance, bacterial pathogenicity and the formation of dormant persisters. Finally, we advocate for a judicious approach toward evolution-based risk assessment of nanoparticle use to maintain the antimicrobial efficacy of these particles and to avoid environmental interference. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.