Quantification of Genes that Encode for Antibiotic-resistance in Soils

Abstract

Antibiotic resistance decreases the effectiveness of antibiotics. With resistant bacteria, antibiotics will no longer stop an infection. With an increase exposure of antibiotics, bacteria become resistant to them. Antibiotic resistant bacteria multiply and their mechanism of resistance spreads. Antibiotics are introduced into the soil environment through animal waste and other source. We want to quantify specific antibiotic-resistant genes in soils and find threshold concentrations of antibiotics that will give rise to genes that encode for antibiotic resistance. Resistance genes to sulfonamides, tetracycline, and beta-lactam antibiotics were detected in experiments with varying conditions. Additionally, sul2 a gene resistant to sulfonamides was quantified. Preliminary results show that sul2 increased over time in samples exposed to sulfamethazine and was not detected in sterile samples with no antibiotic added. The preliminary data shows that the introduction of antibiotics in soils may influence antibiotic-resistance development.