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Abstract
Antibiotics are among the most successful drugs used for human therapy. However, since
they can challenge microbial populations, they must be considered as important pollutants
as well. Besides being used for human therapy, antibiotics are extensively used for
animal farming and for agricultural purposes. Residues from human environments and
from farms may contain antibiotics and antibiotic resistance genes that can contaminate
natural environments. The clearest consequence of antibiotic release in natural environments
is the selection of resistant bacteria. The same resistance genes found at clinical
settings are currently disseminated among pristine ecosystems without any record of
antibiotic contamination. Nevertheless, the effect of antibiotics on the biosphere
is wider than this and can impact the structure and activity of environmental microbiota.
Along the article, we review the impact that pollution by antibiotics or by antibiotic
resistance genes may have for both human health and for the evolution of environmental
microbial populations.