antimicrobial-contamination
Antimicrobial contamination refers to the presence of antibiotics, biocides, and other antimicrobial compounds in soil, water, and plant tissues as a result of agricultural practices, wastewater irrigation, and industrial runoff. In plant science, this is a growing concern because plants can absorb and accumulate these compounds, potentially disrupting plant microbiomes, altering growth and physiology, and contributing to the spread of antimicrobial resistance genes through agricultural ecosystems.
open_in_new WikipediaPubMed · 2026-05-01
Scientists discovered a bacterium that simultaneously breaks down two livestock antibiotics — tylosin and tilmicosin — in wastewater 1.6 times faster than any previously known microbe, using a novel enzyme that cleaves the antibiotics' ring structure. This offers a practical bioremediation tool for reducing antibiotic pollution before it reaches soil and crops.
The bacterium fully degrades both antibiotics within 144 hours, with half-lives of 1.28 days (tilmicosin) and 1.47 days (tylosin) — a 1.6-fold improvement over previously reported strains.
A novel enzyme (Est-4151) drives degradation by cleaving the macrolide lactone ring and reduces the antibacterial activity of breakdown products by more than 20%.
The strain tolerates antibiotic concentrations up to 500 mg/L and achieved 21.43% degradation efficiency in real diluted sewage, demonstrating practical real-world applicability.