The spread and development of antibiotic resistance globally have led to severe public health problems. It has been shown that some non-antibiotic substances can also promote the diffusion and spread of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs). Nanofullerene (nC₆₀) is a type of nanomaterial widely used around the world, and some studies have discovered both the biological toxicity and environmental toxicity of nC₆₀. In this study, cellular and molecular biology techniques were employed to investigate the influences of nC₆₀ at sub-minimum inhibitory concentrations (sub-MICs) on the conjugation of ARGs between the E. coli strains. Compared with the control group, nC₆₀ significantly increased the conjugation rates of ARGs by 1.32–10.82 folds within the concentration range of 7.03–1800 µg/L. This study further explored the mechanism of this phenomenon, finding that sub-MICs of nC₆₀ could induce the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), trigger SOS-response and oxidative stress, affect the expression of outer membrane proteins (OMPs) genes, increase membrane permeability, and thus promote the occurrence of conjugation. This research enriches our understanding of the environmental toxicity of nC₆₀, raises our risk awareness toward nC₆₀, and may promote the more rational employment of nC₆₀ materials.

全球耐药性的扩散和发展已导致严重的公共卫生问题。已经显示出一些非抗生素物质也可以促进抗生素抗性基因（ARG）的扩散和传播。纳米富勒烯（nC ₆₀）是一种在世界范围内广泛使用的纳米材料，一些研究已经发现nC ₆₀的生物毒性和环境毒性。在这项研究中，采用了细胞和分子生物学技术来研究nC ₆₀在亚最低抑制浓度（sub-MICs）下对大肠杆菌菌株之间ARG结合的影响。与对照组相比，nC ₆₀在7.03–1800 µg / L的浓度范围内，ARG的结合率显着提高了1.32–10.82倍。这项研究进一步探讨了这种现象的机制，发现nC _60的亚MIC可以诱导活性氧（ROS）的产生，触发SOS反应和氧化应激，影响外膜蛋白（OMPs）基因的表达，增加膜的通透性，从而促进共轭的发生。这项研究丰富了我们对nC ₆₀的环境毒性的理解，提高了我们对nC _60的风险意识，并可能促进nC ₆₀材料的更合理使用。