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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 #313951
Title: Fate and transport of veterinary antibiotics, antibiotic-resistant bacteria, and antibiotic resistance gene from fields receiving poultry manure during storm events

Author
item SULLIVAN, BAILEY - Iowa State University
item SOUPIER, MICHELLE - Iowa State University
item Moorman, Thomas

Submitted to: ASABE Annual International Meeting
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/26/2015
Publication Date: 7/26/2015
Citation: Sullivan, B., Soupier, M.L., Moorman, T.B. 2015. Fate and transport of veterinary antibiotics, antibiotic-resistant bacteria, and antibiotic resistance gene from fields receiving poultry manure during storm events [abstract]. ASABE Annual International Meeting. ASABE Annual International Meeting, July 26-29, 2015, New Orleans, LA.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Antimicrobials are used in production agriculture to treat disease and promote animal growth, but the presence of antibiotics in the environment raises concern about widespread antibiotic resistance. This study documents the occurrence and transport of tylosin, tetracycline, enterococci resistant to tylosin and tetracycline, and erm and tet genes in chisel plow and no-till agricultural fields treated with poultry manure during a storm event. Six plots were used during this study: three chisel plowed and three no-till. Each tillage practice received poultry manure (equivalent to 112 or 224 kg/ha N) or urea ammonium nitrate (224 kg/ha N). Auto-samplers were installed at the drainage tile outlets for all plots and one L of tile water was collected every two hours during a storm event. Concentration of Enterococcus, tylosin-resistant Enterococcus, and tetracycline-resistant Enterococcus were determined by membrane filtration. The concentrations of erm and tet genes were determined using qPCR and concentrations of tetracycline and tylosin were determined using HPLC/MS3S methods. Concentrations of Enterococcus in the tile water were as low as six CFU/100 mL prior to beginning of rainfall and increased up to 1,650 CFU/100 mL during peak flow in the tile. Concentrations of tetracycline-resistant and tylosin-resistant enterococci followed the same trend but tetracycline-resistant and tylosin-resistant enterococci had 10 fold lower concentrations (160 CFU/mL tetracycline-resistant, 70 CFU/mL tylosin-resistant). These results show that a single intense rainfall event can play an important role in the transport of antibiotic-resistant bacteria into tile drainage systems.