Browsing by Author "Taylor MD"

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    Co-Selection of Bacterial Metal and Antibiotic Resistance in Soil Laboratory Microcosms.
    (18/04/2023) Heydari A; Kim ND; Biggs PJ; Horswell J; Gielen GJHP; Siggins A; Taylor MD; Bromhead C; Palmer BR
    Accumulation of heavy metals (HMs) in agricultural soil following the application of superphosphate fertilisers seems to induce resistance of soil bacteria to HMs and appears to co-select for resistance to antibiotics (Ab). This study aimed to investigate the selection of co-resistance of soil bacteria to HMs and Ab in uncontaminated soil incubated for 6 weeks at 25 °C in laboratory microcosms spiked with ranges of concentrations of cadmium (Cd), zinc (Zn) and mercury (Hg). Co-selection of HM and Ab resistance was assessed using plate culture on media with a range of HM and Ab concentrations, and pollution-induced community tolerance (PICT) assays. Bacterial diversity was profiled via terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (TRFLP) assay and 16S rDNA sequencing of genomic DNA isolated from selected microcosms. Based on sequence data, the microbial communities exposed to HMs were found to differ significantly compared to control microcosms with no added HM across a range of taxonomic levels.
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    Development and Deployment of a Framework to Prioritize Environmental Contamination Issues
    (MDPI (Basel, Switzerland), 11/11/2020) Kim ND; Taylor MD; Caldwell J; Rumsby A; Champeau O; Tremblay LA
    Management and regulatory agencies face a wide range of environmental issues globally. The challenge is to identify and select the issues to assist the allocation of research and policy resources to achieve maximum environmental gain. A framework was developed to prioritize environmental contamination issues in a sustainable management policy context using a nine-factor ranking model to rank the significance of diffuse sources of stressors. It focuses on contamination issues that involve large geographic scales (e.g., all pastoral soils), significant population exposures (e.g., urban air quality), and multiple outputs from same source on receiving environmental compartments comprising air, surface water, groundwater, and sediment. Factor scores are allocated using a scoring scale and weighted following defined rules. Results are ranked enabling the rational comparison of dissimilar and complex issues. Advantages of this model include flexibility, transparency, ability to prioritize new issues as they arise, and ability to identify which issues are comparatively trivial and which present a more serious challenge to sustainability policy goals. This model integrates well as a planning tool and has been used to inform regional policy development.