An effective bioremediation approach for enhanced microbial degradation of the veterinary antibiotic sulfamethazine in an agricultural soil

Background The veterinary antibiotic Sulfamethazine (SMZ) contaminates soils via manure applications. Like other soil contaminants (herbicides, fungicides, and nematicides), it has to be degraded. The main challenge is that SMZ biodegradation with bacteria is impeded, since SMZ is a bacteriostatic antibiotic, designed to block microbes in their growth.