Soil fungi help break down veterinary antibiotics that build up in farm soils, but cold slows them down. Over 18 months, antibiotics cleared roughly two to three times faster under natural seasonal temperatures than at a constant 4 °C, and the resistance genes they select for lingered longest in the cold.
1
Antibiotic half-life was 18-22 days at natural seasonal temperatures but 44-58 days at a constant 4 °C.
2
Soil with a history of organic fertilizer cleared antibiotics more slowly (half-life 22-58 days) than unfertilized soil (18-44 days).
3
Fungal pathways for oxidative and intracellular transformation of antibiotics were less abundant in cold soil, while the capture-and-transport core showed no significant temperature difference; resistance genes declined least at 4 °C.
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