Microbial Remediation to Combat Antimicrobial Pollutants in Agriculture

The field of environmental biotechnology increasingly recognizes the urgent need to address antimicrobial pollution in agricultural systems. The widespread use of antibiotics in crop production, livestock, and aquaculture has led to the accumulation of antimicrobial micropollutants in soils and irrigation waters, posing threats to ecosystem health and food security. Among the most concerning consequences is the proliferation of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), which not only undermines the effectiveness of critical medicines but also threatens global public health. Recent studies have demonstrated the persistence and mobility of these pollutants in the environment, highlighting their role in selecting and spreading resistant microorganisms. Despite the evident risks, current land management and remediation practices often fall short in effectively removing these compounds or minimizing their impact.In response to these challenges, innovative research has begun to focus on leveraging microbial communities for bioremediation of antimicrobial contaminants. Advances in molecular microbiology, environmental genomics and 'omics and high throughout technologies’ are helping to identify and characterize bacteria, fungi, and other microorganisms capable of degrading a broad spectrum of antibiotics and related micropollutants. Notable progress includes discoveries of novel enzymatic pathways that can neutralize or transform these compounds, as well as the application of bioaugmentation and biostimulation techniques in situ. However, significant gaps remain in our understanding of the ecological interactions, stability, efficacy, and scalability of microbial remediation strategies within complex agroecosystems. Ongoing debates concern the long-term safety, environmental impacts, and economic viability of deploying such approaches at field and watershed scales.This Research Topic aims to advance the scientific and practical understanding of microbial remediation for combatting antimicrobial pollution in agriculture. It seeks to support the development of robust microbial strategies tailored to diverse agro-environmental contexts, while evaluating their potential to curb the persistence and dissemination of AMR. By integrating fundamental insights from microbiology and biochemistry with applied perspectives from agricultural management, contributions should foster a holistic framework for sustainable pollutant remediation aligned with public health and environmental stewardship objectives.Within the boundaries of microbial remediation and mitigation of antimicrobial contaminants in agriculture, this Research Topic will focus on innovative, safe, and feasible applications without addressing chemical or non-microbial remediation strategies.We welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:• Discovery and characterization of pollutant-degrading microbial strains and consortia• Enzymatic mechanisms and metabolic pathways involved in antimicrobial degradation• Field and laboratory studies on the effectiveness and safety of microbial bioremediation• Risk assessment and management of AMR gene transfer in bioremediation contexts• Bioaugmentation and biostimulation techniques for enhancing contaminant removal• Interactions between microbial communities, soil health, and crop productivity• Economic and regulatory perspectives on scaling up microbial remediation in agriculturePlease note that Microbiotechnology does not consider descriptive studies that are solely based on amplicon (e.g., 16S rRNA) profiles or comparisons of nucleic acid extracts (e.g., metagenomics), unless they are accompanied by a clear hypothesis and experimentation and provide insight into the microbiological system or process being studied. Topic editors: Tünde Pusztahelyi, Iftikhar Ahmed, Kunal R. Jain Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/78648/microbial-remediation-to-combat-antimicrobial-pollutantsin-agriculture