Herbicide Selection Promotes Antibiotic Resistance in Soil Microbiomes.

ABSTRACT: Herbicides are one of the most widely used chemicals in agriculture. While they are known to be harmful to nontarget organisms, the effects of herbicides on the composition and functioning of soil microbial communities remain unclear. Here we show that application of three widely used herbicides-glyphosate, glufosinate, and dicamba-increase the prevalence of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and mobile genetic elements (MGEs) in soil microbiomes without clear changes in the abundance, diversity and composition of bacterial communities. Mechanistically, these results could be explained by a positive selection for more tolerant genotypes that acquired several mutations in previously well-characterized herbicide and ARGs. Moreover, herbicide exposure increased cell membrane permeability and

SUBMITTER: Liao H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8136491 | biostudies-literature | 2021 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature