Mass lysis of predatory bacteria drives the enrichment of antibiotic resistance in soil microbial communities

The study explores the impact of predatory bacterium M. xanthus on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in antibiotic-free environments. It found that the presence of M. xanthus in soil increases the frequency of AMR. The study also found that coculturing M. xanthus with soil-derived communities enriched AMR among non-myxobacterial isolates. The lysis of M. xanthus during starvation and fruiting body formation also released growth-inhibitory compounds, enriching resistant bacteria. This suggests that M. xanthus’s death can impact antibiotic resistomes in natural soil communities.