Swaine Mark, Bergna Alessandro, Oyserman Ben, Vasileiadis Sotirios, Karas Panagiotis A, Screpanti Claudio, Karpouzas Dimitrios G
University of Thessaly, Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Laboratory of Plant and Environmental Biotechnology, Larissa 41500, Greece.
SYNGENTA A.G., Stein 4332, Switzerland.
FEMS Microbiol Ecol. 2025 May 20;101(6). doi: 10.1093/femsec/fiaf052.
Pesticides remain a cornerstone of modern agriculture. Despite their key role, it is well documented that pesticides can have considerable off-target effects on a range of organisms. The effects of pesticides on soil health, and more importantly on soil microbiota, are currently not well addressed at the regulatory level, despite cumulative evidence for the pivotal role of the soil microbiota on ecosystem functioning. Here, we use a meta-analysis to assess the effects of pesticides on soil health parameters identifying key biological indicators for environmental risk assessment analysis. We demonstrate that ammonia oxidizing archaeal and bacterial amoA gene abundance were the most consistent indicators for pesticide exposure, with inhibition driven by herbicides and fungicides. Our meta-analysis, combined with their key functional role and the existence of well-standardized, high-resolution methods for monitoring their abundance, highlighted the potential of ammonia-oxidizing microorganisms (AOMs) as indicators of the toxicity of pesticides on soil microbiota. AOM could serve as drivers of chemical innovation in a "benign and sustainable by design" approach where new pesticide compounds will have to meet sustainability targets and ensure soil health preservation.
农药仍然是现代农业的基石。尽管它们起着关键作用，但有充分的文献记载表明，农药会对一系列生物体产生相当大的非靶标效应。尽管有越来越多的证据表明土壤微生物群对生态系统功能起着关键作用，但目前在监管层面上，农药对土壤健康，更重要的是对土壤微生物群的影响并未得到很好的解决。在这里，我们使用荟萃分析来评估农药对土壤健康参数的影响，确定用于环境风险评估分析的关键生物指标。我们证明，氨氧化古菌和细菌的amoA基因丰度是农药暴露最一致的指标，除草剂和杀菌剂会导致其受到抑制。我们的荟萃分析，结合它们的关键功能作用以及用于监测其丰度的标准化高分辨率方法的存在，突出了氨氧化微生物（AOMs）作为农药对土壤微生物群毒性指标的潜力。在“设计上良性且可持续”的方法中，AOM可以作为化学创新的驱动力，在这种方法中，新的农药化合物必须满足可持续性目标并确保土壤健康得到保护。
