Gert van der Hoek
In Memoriam - Editor, Senior Moderator
Curr Opin Microbiol. 2011 Jun;14(3):236-43. Epub 2011 May 3.
Antibiotic resistance gene spread due to manure application on agricultural fields.
Heuer H, Schmitt H, Smalla K.
Source
Julius Kühn-Institute-Federal Research Centre for Cultivated Plants (JKI), Department Epidemiology and Pathogen Diagnostics, Messeweg 11-12, 38104 Braunschweig, Germany. holger.heuer@jki.bund.de
Abstract
The usage of antibiotics in animal husbandry has promoted the development and abundance of antibiotic resistance in farm environments. Manure has become a reservoir of resistant bacteria and antibiotic compounds, and its application to agricultural soils is assumed to significantly increase antibiotic resistance genes and selection of resistant bacterial populations in soil.
The genome location of resistance genes is likely to shift towards mobile genetic elements such as broad-host-range plasmids, integrons, and transposable elements.
Horizontal transfer of these elements to bacteria adapted to soil or other habitats supports their environmental transmission independent of the original host.
The human exposure to soil-borne resistance has yet to be determined, but is likely to be severely underestimated.
Pubmed
Antibiotic resistance gene spread due to manure application on agricultural fields.
Heuer H, Schmitt H, Smalla K.
Source
Julius Kühn-Institute-Federal Research Centre for Cultivated Plants (JKI), Department Epidemiology and Pathogen Diagnostics, Messeweg 11-12, 38104 Braunschweig, Germany. holger.heuer@jki.bund.de
Abstract
The usage of antibiotics in animal husbandry has promoted the development and abundance of antibiotic resistance in farm environments. Manure has become a reservoir of resistant bacteria and antibiotic compounds, and its application to agricultural soils is assumed to significantly increase antibiotic resistance genes and selection of resistant bacterial populations in soil.
The genome location of resistance genes is likely to shift towards mobile genetic elements such as broad-host-range plasmids, integrons, and transposable elements.
Horizontal transfer of these elements to bacteria adapted to soil or other habitats supports their environmental transmission independent of the original host.
The human exposure to soil-borne resistance has yet to be determined, but is likely to be severely underestimated.
Pubmed