[Interaction Between Sulfonamide Antibiotics Fates and Chicken Manure Composting]
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Updated: Mar 16, 2026

Biocontained Carcass Composting for Control of Infectious Disease Outbreak in Livestock
Published on: May 6, 2010
Abstract:
Based on aerobic manure composting with or without the addition of a mixture of sulfadimethoxine SM2 and sulfamonomethoxine SMM (1:1, m/m), changes in the physic-chemical properties of manure compost, the microbial community physiological profiles, the antibiotics concentration and the abundances of five antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) during the composting were tracked. The results indicated that the introduction of sulfonamide antibiotics led to inhibition on the basal respiration of manure compost during the early composting period, delayed the formation of thermophilic temperature and reduced the conversion of nutrients such as organic matter, ammonia nitrogen and nitrate nitrogen. Meanwhile, the introduction of sulfonamide antibiotics dramatically affected the physiological profile of microbial community in manure in the middle stage of composting. HPLC-MS/MS results showed that both SMM and SM2 in manure were completely degraded within 14 days, while the degradation rate of SMM was faster than that of SM2. For both composting treatments with or without addition of exogenous antibiotics, the relative abundance of sull and sul2 showed an initial decline in the first 14 or 21 days and a slight increase thereafter. The addition of exogenous antibiotics showed insignificant enhancement on increasing the relative abundance of sul1 and IntI1 in manure, but resulted in an apparent increase in sul2 relative abundance. Although the fates of tetQ and tetW during composting were different from that of sulfonamide ARGs, the introduction of sulfonamide antibiotics into manure increased the relative abundance of tetracycline ARGs. Redundancy analysis indicated that composting temperature correlated negatively with sul1, sul2 and IntI1 relative abundance in manure but had no obvious relationship with tetQ and tetW relative abundance. All the ARGs detected in this work correlated negatively with C/N ratio and the nitrate nitrogen concentration of manure compost but positively correlated with pH, moisture and ammonia nitrogen concentration of manure compost.
Insights
Adding sulfonamide antibiotics to manure composting inhibits microbial activity and nutrient conversion. While antibiotics degrade quickly, they increase specific antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), impacting compost quality and environmental safety.
Area of Science:
- Environmental Microbiology
- Composting Science
- Antimicrobial Resistance
Background:
- Manure composting is a common waste management practice.
- Antibiotics in manure can affect composting processes and spread antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs).
- Understanding the fate of sulfonamide antibiotics and associated ARGs during composting is crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of sulfonamide antibiotics (sulfadimethoxine and sulfamonomethoxine) on aerobic manure composting.
- To track changes in physicochemical properties, microbial community profiles, and ARG abundances.
- To determine the degradation rates of sulfonamide antibiotics and their influence on other ARGs.
Main Methods:
- Aerobic composting of manure with and without sulfonamide antibiotics.
- Monitoring of physicochemical properties (e.g., temperature, C/N ratio, nutrients).
- Analysis of microbial community physiological profiles.
- Quantification of sulfonamide antibiotics using HPLC-MS/MS.
- Measurement of relative abundances of five ARGs (sul1, sul2, IntI1, tetQ, tetW) using qPCR.
Main Results:
- Sulfonamide addition inhibited basal respiration, delayed thermophilic temperatures, and reduced nutrient conversion.
- Antibiotics significantly altered microbial community profiles and were degraded within 14 days (sulfamonomethoxine faster than sulfadimethoxine).
- Sulfonamide addition increased the relative abundance of sul2 and tetracycline ARGs (tetQ, tetW), despite negative correlations with temperature and C/N ratio.
Conclusions:
- Sulfonamide antibiotics negatively impact manure composting efficiency and nutrient cycling.
- While sulfonamides degrade, their addition promotes the proliferation of other ARGs, posing environmental risks.
- Composting parameters like temperature and C/N ratio influence ARG abundances, but antibiotic presence can override these effects.
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