The Antibiotic resistance is increasing worldwide to dangerous levels. Day after day, new resistance mechanisms appear throughout the planet, which jeopardize our ability to treat the most common infectious diseases.
Loose Antibiotics are medicines that are used to prevent and treat bacterial infections. Resistance to antibiotics It occurs when bacteria mutate in response to the use of these medicines, so that they lose effectiveness.
Son Bacteria, and no people or animals, who become antibiotics resistant. These pharmacorrhesistent bacteria can cause infections that are extremely harder to treat than not -resistant.
Excess antibiotics
The World Bank predicts that, by 2050, bacteria resistant to antibiotics – Chapters for surviving medicines that are designed to eliminate them – They can cause more than 10 million human deaths per year. One of the most important spotlights where these microorganisms spread is found in agricultural soils, because fertilizers of animal origin loaded with these microbes and remains of Antibiotics.
In this context is apparent from a non -published study published in the Advanced Science Magazine, that the combination of different plant species in the same crop can stop the proliferation of these harmful bacteria and can be given for preference. In particular, the results indicate that, depending on the type of land, A greater diversity of plants reduces between 20% and 50% the abundance of antibiotic resistance gods And mobile genetic elements, which are DNA sequencies that jump from one micro -organism to another and facilitate the transfer of resistant genes.
The reason? The data indicates that The key is in the connections that release the roots to the groundExsudates, such as sugars, hormones, vitamins, organic acids and amino acids, which are food sources for these microscopic organisms. Each plant has a different composition and each type of bacteria is preferred for different connections. The research has shown that, according to more diversity of exudates, the populations of harmless bacteria are preferred.
‘Combining different plant species has the availability of more types of connections in the soil. In this way the diversity of microbial communities increases, it is more competing with high risk sources and bacteria cannot distribute that much, ”says Josep Peñuelas, a CSIC researcher in Creaf and one of the Study CO authors.
Another of the findings is that the soil that contains more organic matter, which benefit most from a high plant diversity. One reason could be that more manure is used in this soil to fertilize them and therefore there is more load resistant bacteria. “He Livestock takes antibiotics to treat diseases and, if they are administered, bacteria can develop resistance. These microorganisms end up in the droppings that form the fertilizer and can infect, “says Peñuelas.
Combine plants and vegetables when planting
The experiment was carried out for seven months in almost a hundred pots that simulated an agricultural land. In Each pot was added fertilizer of animal origin, which is used to fertilize the land. In the middle of the pots, a single plant was grown, which simulated the monoculture, and in the other half they combined between 3 and 4 types: lettuce, tomato, garlic, alfalfa, celery and pepper. Moreover, it also planted on three types of soil: in black, with a lot of organic matter, where they perceive a reduction of resistance geneses antibiotics of 51.2%, and in fluvoacatic and red, with less organic material, where about 20%was reduced.
Nasty Quantify antibiotic resistance and mobile genetic elementsAnd they used advanced genetic techniques such as QPCR, also metagenomic, microbiological and microbial networks. “These techniques help us identify the bacteria species and of those species that are carriers of resistant genes and what the abundance of these resistant DNA sequences,” says Peñuelas.
Among the bacteria that favor the soil health and reduce the spread of resistant genes, point to the edge of nitrogen mounting bacteria or actinobacteria, “these were more abundant in pots with a greater diversity of crops.” Instead, Proteo School or Firmicutes, which have a greater capacity to wear and transfer antibiotic resistance industry through mobile elements, They were in a greater abundance in the pots that simulated monoculture.
From the ground to the table
Weld Antibiotic -resistant bacteria present in agricultural soils can be transferred to people Via different routes. For example, they can adhere to the surface of leaves, fruit and vegetables. If contaminated food is not washed or cooked properly, we can take them. Once in the digestive system, they can contribute to sending resistants to antibiotics In the microbiota of people, “can make this antibiotics Do not be that effective or do not work correctly when using bacterial infections, ‘warns Peñuelas.
According to researchers, it is therefore very important to take measures from the agricultural sector and this study shows that Promoting polycultures or rotating crops can be an effective solution. They also underline the importance of avoiding the use of unprocessed manure, Water not with waste water, which can also drag remains of antibiotics and microorganisms and in general, unnecessary use of antibiotics In animals.
This study was led by the normal University of Nanjing in China, with the participation of Creaf and CSIC in Spain, as well as the Jiangsu Engineering Research Center for the use of land and sustainable agriculture and the Jiangsu Center for Collaborative Innovation in geographical information also in China. “The results are promising, The next step is to expand large -scale research and with more species of crops, “concludes Peñuelas.