Antibiotics favor the establishment of antibiotrophic bacteria in agricultural soil microbial communities, but are not always sufficient to enhance antibiotic-degradation: manure spreading can help.

International audience; During the past decades, environmental concentrations of antibiotics have largely increased,resulting in a risk of ecosystem disturbance. However, because their composition is often rich innitrogen and carbon, antibiotics are of nutritional interest for microorganisms, as long as theirbiocidal character is not considered. Antibiotic-degrading bacteria have therefore emerged amongststrains that were resistant to antibiotics. Called antibiotrophs, they are able to use selectedantibiotics as nutritive sources for their growth. While several antibiotrophs have been isolated fromdifferent agroecosystems, little is known about their ecology. In particular, their dispersal …