Source: Common weed killers favor antibiotic resistant bacteria, new study shows . . . Herbicides are one of the most widely used chemicals in agriculture and while these compounds are used to target weeds, they can cause damage to soil microbes, such as bacteria and fungi, potentially changing the ecological properties of microbial communities. Scientists from China and the UK studied the effect of three widely used herbicides called glyphosate, glufosinate and dicamba on soil bacterial communities. Using soil microcosms, researchers discovered that herbicides increased the relative abundance of bacterial species that carried antibiotic resistance genes. This was because mutations that improved growth in the presence of herbicides also increased bacterial tolerance to antibiotics. Herbicide exposure also led to more frequent movement of antibiotic resistance genes between bacteria. . . . Bob Wilson
Very interesting topic. This journal article is not yet available (Oxford Press does that more than other inkhouses ) I will add that no till and reduced tillage systems routinely use more herbicides than others, and connections to antibiotic resistance seem not to have been explored yet. Also, an aspect of genetically modification of crops is to increase their resistance to herbicides, so they can be used in more situations. Agriculture has become much more complex than putting seeds in soils.
Bayer and their peers are breeding herbicide resistance into crops at high speed. Meanwhile weeds (as commonly defined) develop their resistance by plain old-fashioned evolutionary adaptation. It's quite a race.
