Summary Soil fertilization with wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) biosolids is associated with the introduction of resistance genes (RGs), mobile genetic elements (MGEs) and potentially selective pollutants (antibiotics, heavy metals, disinfectants) into soil. Not much data are available on the parallel analysis of biosolid pollutant contents, RG/MGE abundances and microbial community composition. In the present study, DNA ext...

Quaternary alkyl ammonium compounds (QAACs) are produced in large quantities for use as surfactants and disinfectants and also found in soils, sediments, and surface waters, where they are potentially involved in the selection of antibiotic resistance genes. Micelle formation influences fate and effects of QAACs. The critical micelle concentration (CMC) of six homologs of benzylalkylammonium chlorides (BAC) was determined in d...

Summary Our group studies tomato foot and root rot, a plant disease caused by the fungus Forl ( Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. radicis‐lycopersici ). Several bacteria have been described to be able to control the disease, using different mechanisms. Here we describe a method that enables us to select, after application of a crude rhizobacterial mixture on a sterile seedling, those strains that reach the root tip faster than our best...