Influences of plants and soil microbes on antibiotics in the rhizosphere: a review

Jingfang Li, Liang Chen, Song Jin, Linxian Huang and Huihua Chen
Additional contact information
Jingfang Li: State Key Laboratory of Hydraulic Engineering Intelligent Construction and Operation, Tianjin University, Tianjin, P.R. China
Liang Chen: State Key Laboratory of Hydraulic Engineering Intelligent Construction and Operation, Tianjin University, Tianjin, P.R. China
Song Jin: Advanced Environmental Technologies LLC, Fort Collins, USA
Linxian Huang: School of Water Conservancy and Environment, University of Jinan, Jinan, P.R. China
Huihua Chen: Jinhua Huachuang Environmental Protection Engineering Co., Ltd, Jinhua, Zhejiang, P.R. China

Plant, Soil and Environment, 2025, vol. 71, issue 2, 67-92

Abstract: The rhizosphere plays an important role in both farmland and urban areas, affecting water quantity and quality during surface water infiltration by increasing the heterogeneity of the aeration zone. The extensive application of antibiotics, their recalcitrance to degradation, and the resultant accumulation of antibiotics in soil-microbe-plant systems represent significant threats to the rhizosphere system, thereby threatening ecological stability and environmental and human health. This review synthesises recent findings on the migration and transformation of typical and common antibiotics within the rhizosphere. The main findings include that the absorption of antibiotics by plants is influenced by their molecular weight (MW) and octanol-water partition coefficient (log Kow), allowing antibiotics to be divided into three classes: (1) antibiotics with high lipophilicity (log Kow > 2) are mostly adsorbed by root lipids and rarely participate in the soil-plant transport process; (2) antibiotics with log Kow < 2 and high MWs (MW > 700) are blocked outside the plant roots; and (3) antibiotics with log Kow < 2 and low MWs (MW < 700) can enter plants through the roots and are transported via transpiration flow in plants. Antibiotics with log Kow < 1 are more easily transported into plant tissues, including leaves. The rhizospheric microorganisms capable of participating in antibiotic migration and transformation are concentrated in Actinobacteria, Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, and Bacteroidetes. The inhibitory effect of antibiotics on dehydrogenase, sucrase, urease, catalase, and alkaline phosphatase activities surpasses their promoting effect, reducing these enzyme activities by 6-35% on average. However, the promoting effect of antibiotics on peroxidase, acidic phosphatase, and manganese peroxidase outweighs the inhibitory effect, increasing enzyme activity by 2-23%. Furthermore, it is essential to consider the effects of plant age and root characteristics on antibiotic migration and transformation. The results of this review contribute to a better understanding of the migration and transformation of antibiotics within the rhizosphere.

Keywords: woody plants; herbaceous plants; emerging pollutants; environmental contamination; soil and water pollution; root exudates (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://pse.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/350/2024-PSE.html (text/html)
http://pse.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/350/2024-PSE.pdf (application/pdf)
free of charge

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:caa:jnlpse:v:71:y:2025:i:2:id:350-2024-pse

DOI: 10.17221/350/2024-PSE

Access Statistics for this article

Plant, Soil and Environment is currently edited by Kateřina Součková

More articles in Plant, Soil and Environment from Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Ivo Andrle ().