Antibiotic transformation in plants via glutathione conjugation

Pharmaceuticals have been introduced into the environment for decades, via land application of manure from antibiotic-treated livestock and via discharges from wastewater treatment plants, where only very limited removal may take place. As an increasing number of investigators report the occurrence of a wide range of pharmaceuticals in the environment,^1–3 there is a need to focus more research on the advancement of treatment technologies to remediate pharmaceutical pollutants in the environment. Efforts to enhance pharmaceutical remediation have been spurred by various concerns, ranging from the emergence of antibiotic-resistant pathogens that may infect the human population⁴ to potential risks associated with the longterm exposure of consumers to crops that accumulate the antibiotics.⁵ While most of these concerns have not as of yet been verified, some substantiation of these effects has come to fruition. For instance, research on human embryonic cells exposed to 13 pharmaceuticals at concentrations found in the environment has shown a significant decrease in cell proliferation in vitro.⁶