Antibiotics in manure a far-reaching impact on abundance of human pathogenic bacteria in soils
Monday, April 7, 2014 - 08:31
in Biology & Nature
Scientists of Helmholtz Zentrum München, in a joint study with researchers of Julius Kühn Institute in Braunschweig, have found that the repeated application of manure contaminated with antibiotics lastingly changes the composition of bacteria in the soil. The focus of the investigation was on sulfadiazine (SDZ), a widely used antibiotic in animal husbandry which enters the soil via manure. In the latest issue of the journal PLoS ONE, the researchers report that repeated application of the antibiotic leads to a decrease in beneficial soil bacteria and at the same time an increase in bacteria that are harmful to humans.