Environmental Antimicrobial Resistance - Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research

Our research in a nutshell

Research topics The working group is studying the degradation and effects of antibiotics in the environment, especially in agricultural soils. The focus is on both the antibiotics themselves and the resistance genes in the bacteria. The specificity of the latter stems from their potential to replicate and spread in the environment and, when transferred to pathogens, to threaten human and animal health. Therefore, for the development of strategies to contain antimicrobial resistance, it is necessary to consider human, animal, and environmental health together (OneHealth approach). The environment in particular has been insufficiently addressed in previous measures. The specific objectives of the WG are to: Investigate the fate and degradation of antibiotics in soil-plant systems and identify bacterial degraders. understand the effects of antibiotics on bacterial community activity in soil-plant systems. identify the drivers for the persistence and transfer of antibiotic resistance in bacterial communities in soils. assess the potential threat starting from antibiotic resistance in soils to human and animal health. find out the removal possibilities of antibiotics and antibiotic resistances from wastewater/slurry.

Current projects

Please have a look at the websites of the team members for an overview about ongoing projects.

Head

Dr. Anja Worrich

Postdocs

Dr. Chika Ejikeugwu

PhD Students

Wenxuan Chen

Haining Huang

Lieke Lipsch

Technicians

Maja Hinkel

Students

Contact

Dr. Anja Worrich
Department of Applied Microbial Ecology

Working Group Environmental Antimicrobial Resistance

anja.worrich@ufz.de

Phone +49 341 235 482295

Permoserstraße 15 | 04318 Leipzig | Germany

News

Welcome to the group Lieke! Lieke is part of the SmartManure PhD college and will spend the next three years investigating whether cover crops can mitigate the negative environmental impacts of manure application on agricultural soils.

We are very happy to welcome Haining Huang as a new PhD student in the group! Haining will be working on extracellular vesicles in soils and their role in the spread of antibiotic resistance in the soil microbiome.

Wenxuan Chen joined the group as a visiting PhD student. She will be working on the development of QSAR models for the prediction of antibiotic rejection by membranes. Nice to have you on board!

Dr. Chika Ejikeugwu joined our group via a Humboldt Fellowship for experienced researchers. Chika will work on the effects of antibiotic mixtures in soils. Welcome!

After one year with us, we say goodbye to Xin Wen, who is going back to South China Agricultural University after her stay as a guest PhD in our group. Thank you Xin for the good time and good luck on your further way! We also look forward to continuing our collaboration in the future.

Hendrik Seifert will now continue the work he did during his internship in the FULLREMOVAL project as a master student under the supervision of Fátima. Welcome back Hendrik!

New review paper out in Environmental Microbiology. From gut to mud: dissemination of antimicrobial resistance between animal and agricultural niches

Click here for open access version

We warmly welcome Fátima as a new postdoc to the group. Fátima will be working on her MSCA-funded project FULLREMOVAL for the next two years.

Kristina Scholz is joining the working group as an intern for the next three months. Welcome Kristina!

Hanna's bachelor thesis will investigate the mechanisms of antibiotic resistance persistence in soils.

Good luck!

Since February, Maja Hinkel is supporting the working group as a technical assistant. She will develop and apply protocols to determine hosts of antibiotic resistance genes in soil. Welcome Maja!

Johanna Zech will do an internship with us until the end of February. She will investigate how soil biophysical conditions affect the invasion success of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

Our BELL student Johanna Rasch participated very successfully in the regional Jugend forscht contest. She took the first place in the biology category and also received the Carl-Friedrich-Gauß-Award.

Congratulations Johanna!

Johanna Jugend forscht

The MDR series "Mission: Saving the world" featured our work on antibiotics in soils.

Publications

2024 (4)

Oprei, A., Schreckinger, J., Kamjunke, N., Worrich, A., Mutz, M., Risse-Buhl, U. (2024):
Migrating ripples create streambed heterogeneity altering microbial diversity and metabolic activity
Limnol. Oceanogr. 69 (8), 1882 - 1899 10.1002/lno.12631
Wen, X., Chen, M., Ma, B., Xu, J., Zhu, T., Zou, Y., Liao, X., Wang, Y., Worrich, A., Wu, Y. (2024):
Removal of antibiotic resistance genes during swine manure composting is strongly impaired by high levels of doxycycline residues
Waste Manage. 177 , 76 - 85 10.1016/j.wasman.2024.01.037
Wen, X., Xu, J., Wang, Y., Yang, X., Peng, G., Li, S., Ma, B., Zou, Y., Liao, X., Wang, Y., Worrich, A., Wu, Y. (2024):
Community coalescence and plant host filtering determine the spread of tetracycline resistance genes from pig manure into the microbiome continuum of the soil–plant system
Microbiol. Res. 284 , art. 127734 10.1016/j.micres.2024.127734
Wen, X., Xu, J., Worrich, A., Li, X., Yuan, X., Ma, B., Zou, Y., Wang, Y., Liao, X., Wu, Y. (2024):
Priority establishment of soil bacteria in rhizosphere limited the spread of tetracycline resistance genes from pig manure to soil-plant systems based on synthetic communities approach
Environ. Int. 187 , art. 108732 10.1016/j.envint.2024.108732

2023 (1)

Veen, J., Jang, H., Raubenheimer, D., van Pinxteren, B.O.C.M., Kandza, V., Meirmans, P.G., van Dam, N.M., Dunker, S., Hoffmann, P., Worrich, A., Janmaat, K.R.L. (2023):
Development of embodied capital: diet composition, foraging skills, and botanical knowledge of forager children in the Congo Basin
Front. Ecol. Evol. 11 , art. 935987 10.3389/fevo.2023.935987

2022 (1)

Jadeja, N.B., Worrich, A. (2022):
From gut to mud: dissemination of antimicrobial resistance between animal and agricultural niches
Environ. Microbiol. 24 (8), 3290 - 3306 10.1111/1462-2920.15927

2021 (1)

Saraiva, J.P., Worrich, A., Karakoç, C., Kallies, R., Chatzinotas, A., Centler, F., Nunes da Rocha, U. (2021):
Mining synergistic microbial interactions: a roadmap on how to integrate multi-omics data
Microorganisms 9 (4), art. 840 10.3390/microorganisms9040840

2020 (2)

Banitz, T., Chatzinotas, A., Worrich, A. (2020):
Prospects for integrating disturbances, biodiversity and ecosystem functioning using microbial systems
Front. Ecol. Evol. 8 , art. 21 10.3389/fevo.2020.00021
König, S., Vogel, H.-J., Harms, H., Worrich, A. (2020):
Physical, chemical and biological effects on soil bacterial dynamics in microscale models
Front. Ecol. Evol. 8 , art. 53 10.3389/fevo.2020.00053

2019 (1)

Worrich, A., Musat, N., Harms, H. (2019):
Associational effects in the microbial neighborhood
ISME J. 13 (9), 2143 - 2149 10.1038/s41396-019-0444-6

2018 (7)

Broekgaarden, C., Pelgrom, K.T.B., Bucher, J., van Dam, N.M., Grosser, K., Pieterse, C.M.J., van Kaauwen, M., Steenhuis, G., Voorrips, R.E., de Vos, M., Vosman, B., Worrich, A., van Wees, S.C.M. (2018):
Combining QTL mapping with transcriptome and metabolome profiling reveals a possible role for ABA signaling in resistance against the cabbage whitefly in cabbage
PLOS One 13 (11), e0206103 10.1371/journal.pone.0206103
König, S., Worrich, A., Banitz, T., Centler, F., Harms, H., Kästner, M., Miltner, A., Wick, L.Y., Thullner, M., Frank, K. (2018):
Spatiotemporal disturbance characteristics determine functional stability and collapse risk of simulated microbial ecosystems
Sci. Rep. 8 , art. 9488 10.1038/s41598-018-27785-4
König, S., Worrich, A., Banitz, T., Harms, H., Kästner, M., Miltner, A., Wick, L.Y., Frank, K., Thullner, M., Centler, F. (2018):
Functional resistance to recurrent spatially heterogeneous disturbances is facilitated by increased activity of surviving bacteria in a virtual ecosystem
Front. Microbiol. 9 , art. 734 10.3389/fmicb.2018.00734
Peters, K., Worrich, A., Weinhold, A., Alka, O., Balcke, G., Birkemeyer, C., Bruelheide, H., Calf, O.W., Dietz, S., Dührkop, K., Gaquerel, E., Heinig, U., Kücklich, M., Macel, M., Müller, C., Poeschl, Y., Pohnert, G., Ristok, C., Rodríguez, V.M., Ruttkies, C., Schumann, M., Schweiger, R., Shahaf, N., Steinbeck, C., Tortosa, M., Treutler, H., Ueberschaar, N., Velasco, P., Weiß, B.M., Widdig, A., Neumann, S., van Dam, N.M. (2018):
Current challenges in plant eco-metabolomics
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 19 (5), art. 1385 10.3390/ijms19051385
Worrich, A. (2018):
Eine starke Allianz
KlarText - Preis für Wissenschaftskommunikation: Die Beiträge der Preisträger
Klaus Tschira Stiftung gGmbH, Heidelberg, S. 22 - 25
Worrich, A. (2018):
Eine starke Allianz
Umwelt Perspektiven (Dezember 2018), 20 - 21
Worrich, A., Wick, L.Y., Banitz, T. (2018):
Ecology of contaminant biotransformation in the mycosphere: Role of transport processes
In: Gadd, G.M., Sariaslani, S. (eds.)
Advances in Applied Microbiology 104
Elsevier, Oxford, p. 93 - 133 10.1016/bs.aambs.2018.05.005

2017 (2)

König, S., Worrich, A., Centler, F., Wick, L.Y., Miltner, A., Kästner, M., Thullner, M., Frank, K., Banitz, T. (2017):
Modelling functional resilience of microbial ecosystems: Analysis of governing processes
Environ. Modell. Softw. 89 , 31 - 39 10.1016/j.envsoft.2016.11.025
Worrich, A., Stryhanyuk, H., Musat, N., König, S., Banitz, T., Centler, F., Frank, K., Thullner, M., Harms, H., Richnow, H.-H., Miltner, A., Kästner, M., Wick, L.Y. (2017):
Mycelium-mediated transfer of water and nutrients stimulates bacterial activity in dry and oligotrophic environments
Nat. Commun. 8 , art. 15472 10.1038/ncomms15472

2016 (2)

Worrich, A., König, S., Banitz, T., Centler, F., Frank, K., Thullner, M., Harms, H., Miltner, A., Wick, L.Y., Kaestner, M. (2016):
Bacterial dispersal promotes biodegradation in heterogeneous systems exposed to osmotic stress
Front. Microbiol. 7 , art. 1214 10.3389/fmicb.2016.01214
Worrich, A., König, S., Miltner, A., Banitz, T., Centler, F., Frank, K., Thullner, M., Harms, H., Kästner, M., Wick, L.Y. (2016):
Mycelium-like networks increase bacterial dispersal, growth, and biodegradation in a model ecosystem at various water potentials
Appl. Environ. Microb. 82 (10), 2902 - 2908 10.1128/AEM.03901-15