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Antibiotics and Antibiotic Resistance Genes (ARGs) in Soil: Occurrence, Fate, and Effects

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Xenobiotics in the Soil Environment

Part of the book series: Soil Biology ((SOILBIOL,volume 49))

Abstract

Pharmaceuticals (VPs) are used in large amounts to protect human health and reduce diseases and promote growth for livestock and poultry in farms. Due to their use pattern, they possess a potential for reaching the soil environment where they develop resistance and can impact the soil ecosystem services. The environmental pollution and health risks caused by the antibiotics and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) have become urgent issues all over the world. This chapter provides a comprehensive overview of the occurence of antibiotics and ARGs in soil. The fate of antibiotics such as photodegradation, bioremediation, chemical treatments, etc., was discussed in detail. ARGs’ occurrence and their mechanism (horizontal and vertical) of transfer into soil ecosystem were reviewed. We review the impact that pollution by antibiotics or by antibiotic resistance genes may have for both human health and the evolution of environmental microbial populations. The chapter could be helpful to university teachers, students, and management authorities for the management and to develop the policy for the new emerging environmental contaminates.

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Acknowledgement

The Research was funded by TWAS-COMSTECH Research award_15-384 RG/ENG/AS_C and HEC Start Up Research Grant 21-700/SRGP/R&D/HEC/2016.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Meteorology, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Park Road, Islamabad, Pakistan

    Muhammad Zaffar Hashmi & Dambaru Ballab Kattel

  2. Department of Environmental Sciences, Government College Women University, Sialkot, 51310, Pakistan

    Adeel Mahmood

  3. Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 16 Lincui Road, Beijing, Chaoyang District, 100101, PR China

    Dambaru Ballab Kattel

  4. Department of Anthropology, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, Pakistan

    Sohaib Khan

  5. Department of Geography, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, Pakistan

    Ahmad Hasnain

  6. Department of Building and Architecture Engineering, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, Pakistan

    Zulkifl Ahmed

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  1. Muhammad Zaffar Hashmi
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  2. Adeel Mahmood
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  3. Dambaru Ballab Kattel
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  4. Sohaib Khan
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  5. Ahmad Hasnain
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  6. Zulkifl Ahmed
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Correspondence to Muhammad Zaffar Hashmi .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Meteorology, COMSATS Inst. of Information Technology Department of Meteorology, Islamabad, Pakistan

    Muhammad Zaffar Hashmi

  2. Amity Inst of Microbial Technology, Amity University Uttar Pradesh Amity Inst of Microbial Technology, Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India

    Vivek Kumar

  3. Amity Inst of Microbial Technology, Amity University Uttar Pradesh Amity Inst of Microbial Technology, Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India

    Ajit Varma

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Hashmi, M.Z., Mahmood, A., Kattel, D.B., Khan, S., Hasnain, A., Ahmed, Z. (2017). Antibiotics and Antibiotic Resistance Genes (ARGs) in Soil: Occurrence, Fate, and Effects. In: Hashmi, M., Kumar, V., Varma, A. (eds) Xenobiotics in the Soil Environment. Soil Biology, vol 49. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47744-2_4

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