1969/01/01 by Patricia S. McManus, Virginia O. Stockwell, George W. Sundin +2 · 3 citations
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · Materials Science · Mathematics · #Advanced Topics in Algebra #Plant Pathogenic Bacteria Studies #Plant Virus Research Studies #Plant-Microbe Interactions and Immunity #Polyoxometalates: Synthesis and Applications
paper · doi:10.1146/annurev.phyto.40.120301.093927
openalex publication_date 1969/01/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/04/28
Antibiotics have been used since the 1950s to control certain bacterial diseases of high-value fruit, vegetable, and ornamental plants. Today, the antibiotics most commonly used on plants are oxytetracycline and streptomycin. In the USA, antibiotics applied to plants account for less than 0.5% of total antibiotic use. Resistance of plant pathogens to oxytetracycline is rare, but the emergence of streptomycin-resistant strains of Erwinia amylovora, Pseudomonas spp., and Xanthomonas campestris has impeded the control of several important diseases. A fraction of streptomycin-resistance genes in plant-associated bacteria are similar to those found in bacteria isolated from humans, animals, and soil, and are associated with transfer-proficient elements. However, the most common vehicles of streptomycin-resistance genes in human and plant pathogens are genetically distinct. Nonetheless, the role of antibiotic use on plants in the antibiotic-resistance crisis in human medicine is the subject of debate.