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Mechanism of Antibiotics Uptake in Plants

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Antibiotics and Antimicrobial Resistance Genes

Abstract

Veterinary antibiotics are globally resorted to for therapeutic usages of infectious diseases in humans as well as in intensive farming systems. The latter are designed to perform effectively at small doses and are proven to be excreted from the body through feces; around 70–90% is not digested and excreted into the environment as their parent compound or metabolite, thus explaining the large amount of antibiotics released in the environment with manure or in wastewater. A large amount of antibiotics has been detected in different crops with concentrations varying from no detection to 487 mg/kg. Consequently, increasing attention and studies are being done on the uptake of pharmaceutical compounds by plants grown in different medium such as soil or nutrient solutions. The main route of entry of these antibiotics into the plant is the roots, and the ability of the antibiotic to be absorbed by the plants relies primarily on its physicochemical properties and its ability to pass through membranes. To measure the ability of an antibiotic to move from root to shoot, the translocation factor is resorted to. This factor is defined as the transfer of antibiotics from roots to leaves and/or shoots. It is calculated as the ratio of the concentration of antibiotics in the leaf to that in the root (leaf concentration/root concentration). Several studies demonstrate the different factors included in the uptake, accumulation, and translocation mechanisms of antibiotics by plants grown in contaminated media.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon

    Lara J. El Gemayel & Isam I. Bashour

Authors
  1. Lara J. El Gemayel
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  2. Isam I. Bashour
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Correspondence to Isam I. Bashour .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, COMSATS University, Islamabad, Pakistan

    Muhammad Zaffar Hashmi

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El Gemayel, L.J., Bashour, I.I. (2020). Mechanism of Antibiotics Uptake in Plants. In: Hashmi, M. (eds) Antibiotics and Antimicrobial Resistance Genes. Emerging Contaminants and Associated Treatment Technologies. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-40422-2_8

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