Inactivation of antibiotic-resistant bacteria by chlorine dioxide in soil and shifts in community composition.

To study the efficacy of chlorine dioxide in the inactivation of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in soil, bacteria resistant to penicillin, amoxicillin or streptomycin were screened out from the soils around a hennery. The effects of dosage, contact time and pH value on the killing rates were investigated by batch experiments. The community composition before and after inactivation was analyzed by high-throughput genetic sequencing. The results showed that antibiotic-resistant bacteria are common and widespread in soil and the most resistant species is . More than 99% of antibiotic-resistant bacteria could be killed by chlorine dioxide at 5 mg L within 30 min under neutral conditions. The killing log value declined slightly when the pH was changed from 4 to 9. The dominant genus was , which was sensitive to chlorine dioxide and could be inactivated easily similar to and . However, Micromonosporaceae and were more resistant to chlorine dioxide than other species, and their relative abundance increased after disinfection.