Recently, the Research Center for Environment Improvement of Rural Human Settlements, Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development in Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences treated chicken manure using an ex situ fermentation system (EFS), and systematically studied the removal dynamics of chlortetracycline (CTC) and tetracycline resistance genes (TRGs) in different layers of the EFS. The study offered a novel insight into safe management and recycling of poultry farming waste. The related findings have been published in the  Journal of Environmental Management .

Excessive use of tetracycline antibiotics in poultry farming results in significant concentrations of these drugs and TRGs in chicken manure, impacting both environmental and human health. This study examined the removal dynamic of CTC residues and TRGs in the process of chicken mature treatment through an EFS. The findings revealed that the middle EFS layer was most efficient in removing both TRGs and integrons and there were fewer host bacteria of TRGs; elevated temperatures within the EFS facilitated the eradication of TRGs and integrons, demonstrating the importance of temperature control; physical and chemical conditions within the EFS influenced microbial community diversity, subsequently impacting TRGs and integrons. The study provided technical and theoretical basis for the removal of antibiotic residues and resistance gene contamination in poultry manure.

This research was funded by the National Water Pollution Control and Treatment Science and Technology Major Project in China, the National Natural Science Foundation of China, and Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences Central Public-interest Scientific Institution Basal Research Fund.

Linkage: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301479724006005