Antimicrobial agents and microbial ecology

Antimicrobials are therapeutic substances used to prevent or treat infections. Disinfectants are antimicrobial agents applied to non-living surfaces. Every year, several thousand tonnes of antimicrobials and their by-products are released into the environment and in particular into the aquatic environment. This type of xenobiotic has ecological consequences in the natural environment but also in technological environments such as wastewater treatment plants and methane fermentation sewage sludge treatment plants. The constant exposure of microbial communities not only to high concentrations but also to sub-inhibitory concentrations of antibiotics is a key element in the development of antibiotic resistance in aquatic environments and in soils. The future of antimicrobials lies in the development of biosourced or bioinspired molecules. The observation and deciphering of interactions between living organisms is the key to this development.