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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Ames, Iowa » National Laboratory for Agriculture and The Environment » Agroecosystems Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #296334
Title: Fate and transport of tylosin and macrolide-resistance genes following manure applications in tile-drained landscapes

Author
item Moorman, Thomas
item SOUPIR, MICHELLE - Iowa State University
item LUBY, ELIZABETH - Iowa State University
item GARDER, JASON - Iowa State University

Submitted to: ASA-CSSA-SSSA Annual Meeting Abstracts
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/25/2013
Publication Date: 11/3/2013
Citation: Moorman, T.B., Soupir, M., Luby, E., Garder, J. 2013. Fate and transport of tylosin and macrolide-resistance genes following manure applications in tile-drained landscapes [CD-ROM]. In: ASA-CSSA-SSSA Annual Meeting Abstracts. Nov. 3-6, 2013, Tampa, FL.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: The use of antibiotics in swine production leads to antibiotic-resistance in gastrointestinal bacteria. Application of swine manure to drained agricultural fields introduces elevated levels of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and residual antibiotics. The persistence and transport of these agents are governed by a variety of environmental, edaphic, and management factors. The persistence and transport of tylosin, Enterococcus (total and tylosin-resistant) and erm genes in manure, soil and tile-drainage were measured in chisel plow and no-till plots receiving liquid swine manure in alternate years. Manure used in the study was obtained from swine treated with tylosin. Each one-acre plot is drained separately and weekly water samples were collected directly from the tile line. Resistance to tylosin in manure, soil, and tile drainage water was investigated using phenotypic based (membrane filtration) and genotypic based (qPCR) methods and compared with samples from control plots treated without manure. Tylosin was quantified using LC-MS/MS. Enterococcus populations in the manure injection band immediately after application were elevated above background, but were well below the abundance of ermB or ermF (> 108 gene copies/g soil). However, over the next 24 months the erm genes declined in abundance to levels similar to those found in the non-manured soils (103 to 3 x 105 copies/g soil). Concentrations of erm genes in tile drainage water were not different from those in drainage from the control plots. Tylosin was present only in small concentrations. The results suggest that antibiotic use in swine results in elevated levels of antibiotic resistant microorganisms in manure-treated soils, but that transport of microorganisms carrying resistance genes in tile drainage is not increased.