title: Antibiotic use in plant agriculture.
abstract: Antibiotics have been used since the 1950s to control certain bacterial diseases of high-value fruit, vegetable, and ornamental plants. Today, the antibiotics most commonly used on plants are oxytetracycline and streptomycin. In the USA, antibiotics applied to plants account for less than 0.5% of total antibiotic use. Resistance of plant pathogens to oxytetracycline is rare, but the emergence of streptomycin-resistant strains of Erwinia amylovora, Pseudomonas spp., and Xanthomonas campestris has impeded the control of several important diseases. A fraction of streptomycin-resistance genes in plant-associated bacteria are similar to those found in bacteria isolated from humans, animals, and soil, and are associated with transfer-proficient elements. However, the most common vehicles of streptomycin-resistance genes in human and plant pathogens are genetically distinct. Nonetheless, the role of antibiotic use on plants in the antibiotic-resistance crisis in human medicine is the subject of debate.
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Pathology, University of Wisconsin, Madison 53706-1598, USA. psm@plantpath.wisc.edu
authors.forename: Patricia S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: McManus
authors.forename: Virginia O
authors.initials: VO
authors.lastname: Stockwell
authors.forename: George W
authors.initials: GW
authors.lastname: Sundin
authors.forename: Alan L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Jones
mesh_terms: D000383:Agriculture / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001419:Bacteria / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D018556:Crops, Agricultural / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000382:microbiology; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D005638:Fruit / Q000187:drug effects / Q000382:microbiology; D005839:Gentamicins / Q000494:pharmacology; D009154:Mutation; D010093:Oxolinic Acid / Q000494:pharmacology; D010118:Oxytetracycline / Q000494:pharmacology; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000382:microbiology*; D013307:Streptomycin / Q000494:pharmacology; D014675:Vegetables / Q000187:drug effects / Q000382:microbiology
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D005839:Gentamicins; D010093:Oxolinic Acid; D010118:Oxytetracycline; D013307:Streptomycin