| Kotzerke, A; Klemer, S; Kleineidam, K; Horn, MA; Drake, HL; Schloter, M; Wlke, BM: Manure Contaminated with the Antibiotic Sulfadiazine Impairs the Abundance of NirK- and NirS-Type Denitrifiers in the Gut of the Earthworm Eisenia Fetida, Biology and Fertility of Soils, 46, 415-418 (2010) | |
| Abstract: The antibiotic sulfadiazine (SDZ) can affect denitrifying bacteria in soil. However, effects on denitrifiers in the gut of earthworms have not been described so far. Therefore, the influence of SDZcontaminated manure applied to soil on denitrifiers in the gut of the earthworm Eisenia fetida was assessed by quantitative PCR targeting genes coding for nirK- and nirS- type nitrite reductases of denitrifiers. Gut contents of Eisenia fetida contained 2.5 x 106 and 5.1 x 105 gene copies of nirK and nirS, respectively, after two weeks in soils amended with manure only. Copy numbers of nirK and nirS in gut contents from manure treatments with SDZ were up to 10 times less. Overall, the data indicate a negative impact of SDZ on denitrifiers in the gut of earthworms. |
