Effect of pH and temperature on the biodegradation of oxytetracycline, streptomycin, and validamycin A in soil

Abstract Residual antibiotics in agricultural soils can be of concern due to the development of antibiotic resistant microorganisms. Among various antibiotics, oxytetracycline (OTC), streptomycin (ST), and validamycin A (VA) have been used for agricultural purposes in South Korea; however, studies on the biodegradation of these antibiotics in soil are limited. Therefore, this study investigated the effects of pH (5.5, 6.8, and 7.4) and temperature (1.8, 23.0, and 31.2 °C) conditions on the biodegradation of these antibiotics in soil. The biodegradation tests were carried out in the field soil (FS) and rice paddy soil (RS) for 30 d with OTC and ST and 10 d with VA, and the residual antibiotics concentrations were monitored over the degradation period. Under various conditions, the degradation rates of ST was lower (11–69%) than that of OTC (60–90%) and VA (15–96%). The degradation half-lives of OTC and VA tend to decrease with increasing pH value, while the degradation half-life of ST tend to increase with increasing pH value. But, the effect of soil pH on the antibiotics degradation was not statistically significant, except for ST in the FS and RS and VA in the FS. The degradation of three antibiotics was greater at higher temperatures (23.0 °C and 31.2 °C) than at lower temperature (1.8 °C), and the degradation half-lives decreased with increasing temperature. The different degradation characteristics of different antibiotics in soil can be explained by the different characteristics of the antibiotics (e.g., sorption affinity, chemical forms) and soil (e.g., organic matter content). The results suggest that the degradation characteristics of antibiotics need to be considered in order to properly manage the residual antibiotics in soil.