Antimicrobial Resistance in Soil Without Antibiotic Use A study by IISc and Kiel University, published in Current Biology , reveals that antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in soil bacteria can arise without antibiotic exposure —driven by microbial interactions. The research focused on Myxococcus xanthus , a predatory bacterium known to release antimicrobials. Surprisingly, when M. xanthus dies in starvation-like conditions, it forms fruiting bodies while most cells rupture, releasing growth-inhibitory molecules. This process increases antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the soil , even without direct antibiotic exposure.
Strains of M. xanthus with a higher diversity of biosynthetic clusters were found to drive this effect. The study highlights a natural mechanism of AMR enrichment , with resistance observed against drugs like tetracycline and rifampicin . Understanding such microbial…
