Veterinary Antibiotic Effects on Atrazine Degradation and Soil Microorganisms

Veterinary antibiotics (VAs) in manure applied to agricultural lands may change agrichemical degradation by altering soil microbial community structure or function. The objectives of this study were to investigate the influence of two VAs, sulfamethazine (SMZ) and oxytetracycline (OTC), on atrazine (ATZ) degradation, soil microbial enzymatic activity, and phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) markers. Sandy loam soil with and without 5% swine manure (w/w) was amended with 0 or 500 μg kg−1 14C radiolabeled ATZ and with 0, 100, or 1000 μg kg−1 SMZ or OTC and incubated at 25°C in the dark for 96 d. The half‐life of ATZ was not significantly affected by VA treatment in the presence or absence of manure; however, the VAs significantly (p < 0.05) inhibited ATZ mineralization in soil without manure (25–50% reduction). Manure amendment decreased ATZ degradation by 22%, reduced ATZ mineralization by 50%, and increased the half‐life of ATZ by >10 d. The VAs had limited adverse effects on the microbial enzymes β‐glucosidase and dehydrogenase in soils with and without manure. In contrast, manure application stimulated dehydrogenase activity and altered chlorinated ATZ metabolite profiles. Concentrations of PLFA markers were reduced by additions of ATZ, manure, OTC, and SMZ; adverse additive effects of combined treatments were noted for arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and actinobacteria. In this work, the VAs did not influence persistence of the ATZ parent compound or chlorinated ATZ metabolite formation and degradation. However, reduced 14CO2 evolved from VA‐treated soil suggests an inhibition to the degradation of other ATZ metabolites due to an altered soil microbial community structure. Core Ideas Veterinary antibiotics (VAs) did not affect atrazine degradation kinetics. Atrazine mineralization was reduced 25 to 50% in soil treated with VAs. VAs had limited effect on the activities of particular soil microbial enzymes. Soil microbial community structure was adversely altered by VAs. VAs inhibit atrazine metabolite degradation due to microbial community change.