Biodegradation of sulfamethazine by an isolated thermophile–Geobacillus sp. S-07

Efficient elimination of antibiotics and antibiotic resistance genes in hyperthermophilic sludge composting

Composting is widely applied in recycling ever-increasing sewage sludge. However, the insufficient elimination of antibiotics and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in conventional compost fertilizer poses considerable threat to agriculture safety and human health. Here we investigated the efficacy and potential mechanisms in the removal of antibiotics and ARGs from sludge in hyperthermophilic composting (HTC) plant. Our results demonstrated that the HTC product was of high maturity. HTC led to complete elimination of antibiotics and potential pathogens, as well as removal of 98.8 % of ARGs and 88.1 % of mobile genetic elements (MGEs). The enrichment of antibiotic-degrading candidates and related metabolic functions during HTC suggested that biodegradation played a crucial role in antibiotic removal. Redundancy analysis (RDA) and structural equation modelling (SEM) revealed that the reduction of ARGs was attributed to the decline of ARG-associated bacteria, mainly due to the high-temperature selection. These findings highlight the feasibility of HTC in sludge recycling and provide a deeper understanding of its mechanism in simultaneous removal of antibiotics and ARGs.

Microbial degradation of contaminants of emerging concern: metabolic, genetic and omics insights for enhanced bioremediation

The perpetual release of natural/synthetic pollutants into the environment poses major risks to ecological balance and human health. Amongst these, contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) are characterized by their recent introduction/detection in various niches, thereby causing significant hazards and necessitating their removal. Pharmaceuticals, plasticizers, cyanotoxins and emerging pesticides are major groups of CECs that are highly toxic and found to occur in various compartments of the biosphere. The sources of these compounds can be multipartite including industrial discharge, improper disposal, excretion of unmetabolized residues, eutrophication etc., while their fate and persistence are determined by factors such as physico-chemical properties, environmental conditions, biodegradability and hydrological factors. The resultant exposure of these compounds to microbiota has imposed a selection pressure and resulted in evolution of metabolic pathways for their biotransformation and/or utilization as sole source of carbon and energy. Such microbial degradation phenotype can be exploited to clean-up CECs from the environment, offering a cost-effective and eco-friendly alternative to abiotic methods of removal, thereby mitigating their toxicity. However, efficient bioprocess development for bioremediation strategies requires extensive understanding of individual components such as pathway gene clusters, proteins/enzymes, metabolites and associated regulatory mechanisms. "Omics" and "Meta-omics" techniques aid in providing crucial insights into the complex interactions and functions of these components as well as microbial community, enabling more effective and targeted bioremediation. Aside from natural isolates, metabolic engineering approaches employ the application of genetic engineering to enhance metabolic diversity and degradation rates. The integration of omics data will further aid in developing systemic-level bioremediation and metabolic engineering strategies, thereby optimising the clean-up process. This review describes bacterial catabolic pathways, genetics, and application of omics and metabolic engineering for bioremediation of four major groups of CECs: pharmaceuticals, plasticizers, cyanotoxins, and emerging pesticides.

Isolation, identification and whole-genome analysis of an Achromobacter strain with a novel sulfamethazine resistance gene and sulfamethazine degradation gene cluster

A sulfamethazine (SM2) degrading strain, Achromobacter mucicolens JD417, was isolated from sulfonamide-contaminated sludge using gradient acclimation. Optimal SM2 degradation conditions were pH 7, 36 °C, and 5 % inoculum, achieving a theoretical maximum degradation rate of 48 % at 50 ppm SM2. Cell growth followed the Haldane equation across different SM2 concentrations. Whole-genome sequencing of the strain revealed novel functional annotations, including a sulfonamide resistance gene (sul4) encoding dihydropteroate synthase, two flavin-dependent monooxygenase genes (sadA and sadB) crucial for SM2 degradation, and unique genomic islands related to metabolism, pathogenicity, and resistance. Comparative genomics analysis showed good collinearity and homology with other Achromobacter species exhibiting organics resistance or degradation capabilities. This study reveals the novel molecular resistance and degradation mechanisms and genetic evolution of an SM2-degrading strain, providing insights into the bioremediation of sulfonamide-contaminated environments.

Natural attenuation of sulfonamides and metabolites in contaminated groundwater - Review, advantages and challenges of current documentation techniques

Sulfonamides are applied worldwide as antibiotics. They are emerging contaminants of concern, as their presence in the environment may lead to the spread of antibiotic resistance genes. Sulfonamides are present in groundwater systems, which suggest their persistence under certain conditions, highlighting the importance of understanding natural attenuation processes in groundwater. Biodegradation is an essential process, as degradation of sulfonamides reduces the risk of antibiotic resistance spreading. In this review, natural attenuation, and in particular assessment of biodegradation, is evaluated for sulfonamides in groundwater systems. The current knowledge level on biodegradation is reviewed, and a scientific foundation is built based on sulfonamide degradation processes, pathways, metabolites and toxicity. An overview of bacterial species and related metabolites is provided. The main research effort has focused on aerobic conditions while investigations under anaerobic conditions are lacking. The level of implementation in research is laboratory scale; here we strived to bridge towards field application and assessment, by assessing approaches commonly used in monitored natural attenuation. Methods to document contaminant mass loss are assessed to be applicable for sulfonamides, while the approach is limited by a lack of reference standards for metabolites. Furthermore, additional information is required on relevant metabolites in order to improve risk assessments. Based on the current knowledge on biodegradation, it is suggested to use the presence of substituent-containing metabolites from breakage of the sulfonamide bridge as specific indicators of degradation. Microbial approaches are currently available for assessment of microbial community's capacities, however, more knowledge is required on indigenous bacteria capable of degrading sulfonamides and on the impact of environmental conditions on biodegradation. Compound specific stable isotope analysis shows great potential as an additional in situ method, but further developments are required to analyse for sulfonamides at environmentally relevant levels. Finally, in a monitored natural attenuation scheme it is assessed that approaches are available that can uncover some processes related to the fate of sulfonamides in groundwater systems. Nevertheless, there are still unknowns related to relevant bacteria and metabolites for risk assessment as well as the effect of environmental settings such as redox conditions. Alongside, uncovering the fate of sulfonamides in future research, the applicability of the natural attenuation documentation approaches will advance, and provide a step towards in situ remedial concepts for the frequently detected sulfonamides.

Next-generation hybrid technologies for the treatment of pharmaceutical industry effluents

Water and industries are intangible units of the globe that are always set to meet the population's demand. The global population depends on one-third of freshwater increasing the demand. The increase in population along with urbanization has polluted the fresh water resources. The pharmaceutical industry is marked as an emerging contaminant of water pollution. The most common type of pharmaceutical drugs that are detected in the environment includes antibiotics, analgesics, NSAIDs, and pain-relieving drugs. These drugs alter the food chain of the organisms causing chaos mainly in the marine ecosystem. Pharmaceutical drugs are found only in shallow amounts (ng/mg) they have a huge impact on the living system. The consumption of water contaminated with pharmaceutical ingredients can disrupt reproduction, hormonal imbalance, cancer, and respiratory problems. Various methods are used to remove these chemicals from the environment. In this review, we mainly focused on the emerging hybrid technologies and their significance in the effective treatment of pharmaceutical wastewater. This review paper primarily elaborates on the merits and demerits of existing conventional technologies helpful in developing integrated technologies for the modern era of pharmaceutical effluent treatment. This review paper further in detail discusses the various strategies of eco-friendly bioremediation techniques namely biostimulation, bioaugmentation, bacterial degradation, mycoremediation, phytoremediation, and others for the ultimate removal of pharmaceutical contaminants in wastewater. The review makes clear that targeted and hybrid solutions are what the world will require in the future to get rid of these pharmacological prints.

Functional fungal pellets self-immobilized by mycelium fragments of Irpex lacteus WRF-IL for efficient degradation of sulfamethazine as the sole carbon source

In order to achieve an efficient microbial material with dual functions of self-immobilization and sulfamethazine (SMZ) degradation, this study explored the pelletization technique utilizing mycelium fragments of Irpex lacteus WRF-IL and systematically examined the pellets formation conditions and degradation capability. The Box-Behnken design results demonstrated that pure mycelium fragments, broken by frosted glass beads, could be rapidly self-immobilized to form white rot mycelial pellets (WRMPs) within 24 h, serving as the pelleting core. These WRMPs could completely remove SMZ as the sole carbon source within 20 h. The addition of sucrose expedited this process, achieving complete removal within only 14 h. Kinetic analysis showed that WRMPs could potentially remove SMZ at higher concentrations (>25 mg/L). Biodegradation was the primary pathway of SMZ removal. Seven intermediates were identified by QTOF LC/MS, and three transformation pathways initiated by SO₂ overflow, molecular rearrangement, and aniline moiety oxidation were deduced.

Rhizocarpon geographicum Lichen Discloses a Highly Diversified Microbiota Carrying Antibiotic Resistance and Persistent Organic Pollutant Tolerance

As rock inhabitants, lichens are exposed to extreme and fluctuating abiotic conditions associated with poor sources of nutriments. These extreme conditions confer to lichens the unique ability to develop protective mechanisms. Consequently, lichen-associated microbes disclose highly versatile lifestyles and ecological plasticity, enabling them to withstand extreme environments. Because of their ability to grow in poor and extreme habitats, bacteria associated with lichens can tolerate a wide range of pollutants, and they are known to produce antimicrobial compounds. In addition, lichen-associated bacteria have been described to harbor ecological functions crucial for the evolution of the lichen holobiont. Nevertheless, the ecological features of lichen-associated microbes are still underestimated. To explore the untapped ecological diversity of lichen-associated bacteria, we adopted a novel culturomic approach on the crustose lichen Rhizocarpon geographicum. We sampled R. geographicum in French habitats exposed to oil spills, and we combined nine culturing methods with 16S rRNA sequencing to capture the greatest bacterial diversity. A deep functional analysis of the lichen-associated bacterial collection showed the presence of a set of bacterial strains resistant to a wide range of antibiotics and displaying tolerance to Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs). Our study is a starting point to explore the ecological features of the lichen microbiota.

Legacy and dispersant influence microbial community dynamics in cold seawater contaminated by crude oil water accommodated fractions

Dispersants, used for combating oil spills, increase hydrocarbon bioavailability promoting their biodegradation. Oil weathering process introduces harmful soluble hydrocarbons, such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), into the water column, resulting in water-accommodated fraction (WAF). The presence of dispersants can influence the weathering process by increasing PAHs solubility, toxicity and biodegradability. However, little is known on how dispersants affect microbial communities and their degradation capacities, especially in cold environment where low temperature decreases microbial activity and thus hydrocarbon degradation. Here, we investigated the microbial community dynamics in cold water contaminated by WAF prepared from crude oil with or without a commercial dispersant (Finasol OSR52). The WAFs, prepared with Naphthenic North Atlantic crude oil, were used to contaminate seawater from Norwegian cold sites, one oil-contaminated and the other pristine. The WAF-contaminated seawaters were maintained in microcosms at 4 °C for 21 days. The content of PAHs and microbial compositions (16S rRNA gene sequencing) were determined at days 0, 7, 14 and 21. In addition, the 96 h toxicity assay with adult Acartia tonsa revealed WAFs toxicity at days 0 and 21. The toxicity of WAF mixtures, with and without dispersant, against Acartia tonsa was reduced during the experiment, but PAHs removal was not increased. The water from the oil-contaminated site showed the highest PAHs removal revealing legacy effect (presence of microorganisms adapted to PAHs). Additionally, our results reveal: i) microbial community plasticity allowing the adaptation to the presence of PAHs and dispersant, ii) specific bacteria taxa probably involved in PAHs degradation, and iii) dispersants shape the microbial communities dynamics by stimulating potential dispersant-degrading taxa, such as Fusibacter. Thus, our results provide valuable insights on the role of microbial community in determining the fate of water-solubilized hydrocarbon in cold environment while questioning the role of dispersant used for fighting oil spill.

Microbial degradation of antibiotic: future possibility of mitigating antibiotic pollution

Antibiotics are the major pharmaceutical wastes that are being exposed to the environment from the pharmaceutical industries and for the anthropogenic activities. The use of antibiotics for disease prevention and treatment in humans has been surpassed by the amount used in agriculture, particularly on livestock. It is stipulated that the overuse of antibiotics is the single largest reason behind the rise of bacterial anti-microbial resistance (AMR). The development of alternative therapy, like gene therapy, immunotherapy, use of natural products, and various nanoparticles, to control bacterial pathogens might be an alternative of antibiotics for mankind but the remediation of already exposed antibiotics from the lithosphere and hydrosphere needs to be envisioned with priority. The ever-increasing release of antibiotics in the environment makes it one of the major emerging contaminants (ECs). Decomposition of such antibiotic contaminants is a great challenge to get a cleaner environment. There are reports describing the degradation of antibiotics by photolysis, hydrolysis, using cathode and metal salts, or by degradation via microbes. Antimicrobials like sulfonamides are recalcitrant to natural biodegradation, exhibiting high thermal stability. There are recent reports on microbial degradation of a few common antibiotics and their derivatives but their applications in waste management are scanty. It could however be a major concern to the scientists whether to use the antibiotic degradation traits of a microbe for the removal of antibiotic wastes. The complexity of the genetic clusters of a microbe that are responsible for degradation is crucial, as a small genetic cluster might have higher chance of horizontal transfer into sensitive species of the normal microbial flora that in turn triggers the rise of antimicrobial resistance.

Mechanism for biodegradation of sulfamethazine by Bacillus cereus H38

Degradation of sulfonamides (SAs) by microorganisms has become a focus of current research. Sulfamethazine (SMZ) is a type of SA widely used in the livestock and poultry industry. However, understanding the intermediate products, degradation pathways and mechanism of SMZ biodegradation is limited at present. In this study, a SMZ degrading bacterium Bacillus cereus H38, which can use SMZ as its only carbon source, was isolated from farmland soil. The bacterium was gram-positive with rod-shaped cells. The effects of initial SMZ concentration, pH, temperature and amount of inoculation on the biodegradation of SMZ were investigated by a single factor experiment. The results showed that the maximum degradation rate of SMZ was achieved in the environmental conditions at an initial SMZ concentration of 5 mg/L, pH of 7.0, temperature of 25 °C and inoculation amount of 5%. Under these optimum degradation conditions, strain H38 can completely degrade SMZ within 3 days. The effects of intracellular enzymes, extracellular enzymes and periplasmic enzymes on the SMZ degradation process were compared. It was found that intracellular enzymes contributed the most to the biodegradation of SMZ, and the degradation rate approached 70%. Three possible intermediates were identified by LC-MS/MS, and two degradation pathways were proposed. Whole genome sequencing results showed that the genome size of strain H38 was 5,477,631 bp, including 5599 coding sequences (CDSs), and the GC content was 35.21%. In addition, functional annotation of CDSs was performed to analyze the metabolic pathways of nitrogen and sulfur in strain H38 combining genomics and bioinformatics. This study proposes new insights into the mechanism for biodegradation of SAs and will inform future research.

Antibiotics in mariculture systems: A review of occurrence, environmental behavior, and ecological effects

Antibiotics are widely applied to prevent and treat diseases occurred in mariculture. The often-open nature of mariculture production systems has led to antibiotic residue accumulation in the culturing and adjacent environments, which can adversely affect aquatic ecosystems, and even human. This review summarizes the occurrence, environmental behavior, and ecological effects of antibiotics in mariculture systems based on peer-reviewed papers. Forty-five different antibiotics (categorized into ten groups) have been detected in mariculture systems around the world, which is far greater than the number officially allowed. Indiscriminate use of antibiotics is relatively high among major producing countries in Asia, which highlights the need for stricter enforcement of regulations and policies and effective antibiotic removal methods. Compared with other environmental systems, some environmental characteristics of mariculture systems, such as high salinity and dissolved organic matter (DOM) content, can affect the migration and transformation processes of antibiotics. Residues of antibiotics favor the proliferation of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs). Antibiotics and ARGs alter microbial communities and biogeochemical cycles, as well as posing threats to marine organisms and human health. This review may provide a valuable summary of the effects of antibiotics on mariculture systems.

Pharmaceutical Compounds in Aquatic Environments-Occurrence, Fate and Bioremediation Prospective

Various contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) have been detected in different ecosystems, posing a threat to living organisms and the environment. Pharmaceuticals are among the many CECs that enter the environment through different pathways, with wastewater treatment plants being the main input of these pollutants. Several technologies for the removal of these pollutants have been developed through the years, but there is still a lack of sustainable technologies suitable for being applied in natural environments. In this regard, solutions based on natural biological processes are attractive for the recovery of contaminated environments. Bioremediation is one of these natural-based solutions and takes advantage of the capacity of microorganisms to degrade different organic pollutants. Degradation of pollutants by native microorganisms is already known to be an important detoxification mechanism that is involved in natural attenuation processes that occur in the environment. Thus, bioremediation technologies based on the selection of natural degrading bacteria seem to be a promising clean-up technology suitable for application in natural environments. In this review, an overview of the occurrence and fate of pharmaceuticals is carried out, in which bioremediation tools are explored for the removal of these pollutants from impacted environments.

Biosynthesis of polyhydroxyalkanoate from food waste oil by Pseudomonas alcaligenes with simultaneous energy recovery from fermentation wastewater

Bioconversion of food waste oil (FWO) into biodegradable plastic is a promising method for converting waste into high-value products. In this study, a strain (Pseudomonas sp. H3) was isolated for polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) synthesis from FWO. After 72 h of cultivation with 20 g/L of FWO, the high cell dry weight (CDW) of 3.6 g/L, PHA yield of 2.4 g/L, and PHA content of 65 wt% were obtained under the optimal temperature (25 °C) and inoculum amount (6% (v/v)). Fed-batch fermentation was conducted in a 5 L bioreactor with a maximum CDW of 16 g/L, PHA content of 54 wt%, and PHA productivity of 0.23 g/(L·h) after 36 h. The PHA had a molecular weight of 54 782 Da and a low polydispersity index of 1.41 with glass transition, melting, and degradation temperatures of -20 °C, 34 °C, and 210 °C, respectively. To further utilize the wastewater after PHA production, anaerobic digestion was employed for CH₄ production, and the CH₄ yield was 284 mL/g volatile solids. Microbial community analysis showed that the abundance of acetate-oxidizing bacteria and Methanobacterium significantly increased during anaerobic digestion. This study describes a new strain for the economical synthesis of biodegradable plastics and presents a novel framework for fully utilizing FWO with the production of PHA and CH₄.

Various strategies applied for the removal of emerging micropollutant sulfamethazine: a systematic review

Pharmaceutical active drug(s) especially sulfamethazine (SMZ) is considered as one of the major emerging microcontaminants due its long-term existence in the environmental system and that can influence on the developmental of antibacterial resistance genes. Because of this region it has a great concern in the aquatic system. Moreover, the vast utilization of SMZ, excretion of undigested portion by animals and also through dumping or mishandling, SMZ is frequently detected in various samples (including water) of different places and its surroundings. Additionally, reports shown it has toxic effect against microalgae and mice. Thus, that can lead to several investigators, focusing on removal of SMZ alone or in combination of other drugs in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) either by abiotic and/or biotic treatment methods. The present review provides an overview of the toxic effect of SMZ and SMZ degradation/removal in abiotic and biotic processes. Finally, reveals the need of further implication of integrated treatments (including engineered biological mediators) to understand ideal biological approaches for the mineralization of SMZ.

Perspectives on the antibiotic contamination, resistance, metabolomics, and systemic remediation

Antibiotics have been regarded as the emerging contaminants because of their massive use in humans and veterinary medicines and their persistence in the environment. The global concern of antibiotic contamination to different environmental matrices and the emergence of antibiotic resistance has posed a severe impact on the environment. Different mass-spectrometry-based techniques confirm their presence in the environment. Antibiotics are released into the environment through the wastewater steams and runoff from land application of manure. The microorganisms get exposed to the antibiotics resulting in the development of antimicrobial resistance. Consistent release of the antibiotics, even in trace amount into the soil and water ecosystem, is the major concern because the antibiotics can lead to multi-resistance in bacteria which can cause hazardous effects on agriculture, aquaculture, human, and livestock. A better understanding of the correlation between the antibiotic use and occurrence of antibiotic resistance can help in the development of policies to promote the judicious use of antibiotics. The present review puts a light on the remediation, transportation, uptake, and antibiotic resistance in the environment along with a novel approach of creating a database for systemic remediation, and metabolomics for the cleaner and safer environment.

Characterization of Lactobacillus reuteri WQ-Y1 with the ciprofloxacin degradation ability

OBJECT

As a broad-spectrum fluoroquinolone antibiotic drug, ciprofloxacin (CIP) is frequently used in the treatment of a wide variety of infections. However, the residues of this antibiotic pose a big threat to the aquatic environment and human health. In this research, Lactobacillus reuteri WQ-Y1 with CIP degradation ability was screened and identified.

RESULTS

L. reuteri WQ-Y1 with a degradation rate of 65.1% for 4 µg mL^-1 CIP was screened from 17 lactic acid bacteria (LAB), and cytochrome P450 enzyme was confirmed to promote the degradation of CIP by L. reuteri WQ-Y1. Meanwhile, the CIP degradation rate were also higher in 48 h' culture time when co-cultured with 1 mg/mL of glucose in the culture media. Furthermore, result also proved that fluoroquinolone antibiotics with the similar piperazine ring structures could be degraded by L. reuteri WQ-Y1.

CONCLUSIONS

L. reuteri WQ-Y1 could degrade fluoroquinolone antibiotics with the similar piperazine ring structure. However, future work still needs to be done on the confirmation of the key enzymes in the cytochrome P450 enzymes family in the biodegradation. The isolated ciprofloxacin-degrading strain L. reuteri WQ-Y1 had a CIP degradation rate of 65.1% at 24 hours, and one biodegradation metabolite was identified and proved to be an important metabolite of CIP from cytochrome P450 enzymes family hydrolysis with UPLC-MS/MS spectrograms approach.

Isolation of oxytetracycline-degrading bacteria and its application in improving the removal performance of aerobic granular sludge

Aerobic granular sludge (AGS) is a type of biofilm with good sedimentation and density, high biomass, high organic load tolerance and toxicity resistance. Oxytetracycline (OTC) is an antibiotic widely used in livestock and aquaculture, and its low absorption and high residue bring many risks and harms to the ecological environment. In this study, an OTC-degrading strain TJ3 was isolated from AGS and identified as Pandoraea sp. The biodegradation characteristics of OTC by strain TJ3 under different environmental conditions were also investigated. The results showed that the optimal initial pH value and temperature for the culture strain were 6.0 and 30 °C, respectively. At an inoculation dose of 6% (v/v), the removal rate of OTC by strain TJ3 was remarkable (59.4%). Furthermore, when the sodium acetate was present as an additional substrate, the biomass and the OTC removal rate of strain TJ3 were improved. The biodegradability of strain TJ3 to OTC was proved by LC-QTOF/MS, and two possible biotransformation products, i.e. m/z 416 and 219, were identified. In the bioaugmentation experiments of AGS by strain TJ3, the average OTC removal rate was 92.89% after the stable operation of bioreactor. The chemical oxygen demand (COD), ammonium nitrogen (NH₄⁺-N) and total phosphorus (TP) were efficiently removed. The microbial community structure had significantly changed at the genus level, and the relative abundance of Zoogloea, Pandoraea, Cloacibacterium and Desulfovibrio increased evidently. These results implied that the OTC removal performance and the structural stability of AGS were improved. In this study, Pandoraea sp. TJ3 was applied to removal OTC for the first time, and results showed that Pandoraea sp. TJ3 may be a new auxiliary bacterial resource for the biodegradation of OTC and a potential candidate in the treatment of antibiotic wastewater.

Simultaneous heavy metal immobilization and antibiotics removal during synergetic treatment of sewage sludge and pig manure

The safe handling of heavy metals and antibiotics during waste disposal has attracted wide attention. In the present study, hydrothermally treated sewage sludge was used for co-pyrolysis with different concentration ratios of pig manure at 600 °C for heavy metal immobilization and antibiotic removal. Heavy metals (except Cd) were mainly retained in the biochar samples due to a high degree of decomposition characteristic of organic matter. Pyrolysis significantly immobilized the heavy metals via converting unstable F1 + F2 + F3 fractions (acid-soluble fraction + reducible fraction + oxidizable fraction) to stable F4 fraction (residual fraction), and more pig manure addition led to improved immobilization performance. After co-pyrolysis, the potential environmental risk of feedstocks reduced significantly and the addition of 50 wt.% of pig manure gave a minimum potential ecological risk index of 10.36 with a low risk of contamination. In addition, six types of antibiotics in feedstocks were decomposed completely during pyrolysis. The co-pyrolysis process showed numerous advantages in the synthetic treatment of sewage sludge and pig manure by reducing the heavy metal toxicity and antibiotic levels.

Antibiotic resistance genes are increased by combined exposure to sulfamethoxazole and naproxen but relieved by low-salinity

Combined pollution of antibiotic and non-antibiotic pharmaceutical residues is ubiquitous in realistic polluted environments, which is regarded as a complicated emerging pollution. Herein, high-throughput sequencing and high-throughput quantitative PCR were applied to profile the overall changes in microbial communities and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) of biofilms in response to a combination of naproxen and sulfamethoxazole pollution. After continuous operation for 120 days, naproxen or/and sulfamethoxazole were efficiently removed, and the salinity of 1.00% enhanced the removal rate of sulfamethoxazole. The high-throughput sequencing revealed that Eubacterium spp. with abundances of over 40.00% dominated in all samples, and combined pollution of naproxen and sulfamethoxazole more readily promoted the occurrence of multidrug-resistant microbes, including Pseudomonas and Methylophilus. The high-throughput quantitative PCR results showed that the combined pollution of naproxen and sulfamethoxazole increased the total abundance of ARGs to approximately 9 copies per cell. In contrast, increasing the salinity to 1.00% greatly reduced the overall abundance of ARGs to below 2 copies per bacterial cell. Mantel test and Procrustes analysis indicated that microbiomes from different treatments had tight links to their respective antibiotic resistomes. Furthermore, network analysis revealed that multidrug-resistant microbes were potential hosts for greatly enriched numbers of ARGs in the combined treatment. As increased salinity eliminated those multidrug-resistant but salt-sensitive microbes, the abundance of ARGs was significantly decreased. These results showed the high probability of the transmission of ARGs in biofilms exposed to combined pollution of naproxen and sulfamethoxazole, which could be relieved by increased salinity.

Biodiversity, isolation and genome analysis of sulfamethazine-degrading bacteria using high-throughput analysis

Sulfamethazine (SM2) is one of the sulfonamide antibiotics that is frequently detected in aquatic environment. Given the complex structure of SM2 and its potential threat to the environment, it is necessary to determine the degradation behavior of high-concentration SM2. The mechanisms of community structure and diversity of activated sludge were analyzed. A novel SM2-degrading strain YL1 was isolated which can degrade SM2 with high concentration of 100 mg L^-1. Strain YL1 was identified as Paenarthrobacter ureafaciens and there was also a significant increase in the genus during acclimation. Additional SM2 metabolic mechanisms and genomic information of YL1 were analyzed for further research. The succession of the community structure also investigated the effect of SM2 on the activated sludge. This result not only advances the current understanding of microbial ecology in activated sludge, but also has practical implications for the design and operation of the environmental bioprocesses for treatment of antimicrobial-bearing waste streams.

Investigating the biodegradation of sulfadiazine in soil using Enterobacter cloacae T2 immobilized on bagasse

The application of the antibiotic sulfadiazine (SD) in veterinary medicine has created serious environmental issues due to its high mobility and non-degradability. A novel immobilized cell system has been developed and showed significant SD biodegradation potential in soil.

Sulfadiazine degradation in soils: Dynamics, functional gene, antibiotic resistance genes and microbial community

Sulfonamides and their corresponding antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) are widespread in the environment, which leads to a major threat to global health crisis. Biodegradation plays a major role in sulfonamides removal in soil ecosystem, but the degradation dynamics and the associated functional bacteria in situ remain unclear. In this study, aerobic degradation of sulfadiazine (SDZ) at two dosages (1 and 10 mg/kg) was explored for up to 70 days in two different agricultural soils. The removal of SDZ in all treatments followed first-order multi-compartment model with half-life times of 0.96-2.57 days, and DT50 prolonged with the increase of initial dosage. A total of seven bacterial genera, namely Gaiella, Clostrium_sensu_stricto_1, Tumebacillus, Roseiflexus, Variocorax, Nocardioide and Bacillus, were proposed as the potential SDZ-degraders. sadA gene was for the first time detected in soil samples, but other functional genes might also participate in SDZ degradation. The enrichment of sulfonamide resistance genes was found after 70 days' incubation, which might result in the spread of ARGs in soil. This study can add some new insights towards SDZ degradation in soil ecosystem and provide a potential resource for the bioremediation of SDZ-contaminated soil.

Genomic characterization, kinetics, and pathways of sulfamethazine biodegradation by Paenarthrobacter sp. A01

Biodegradation is an important route for the removal of sulfamethazine (SMZ), one of the most commonly used sulfonamide antibiotics, in the environment. However, little information is known about the kinetics, products, and pathways of SMZ biodegradation owing to the complexity of its enzyme-based biotransformation processes. In this study, the SMZ-degrading strain A01 belonging to the genus Paenarthrobacter was isolated from SMZ-enriched activated sludge reactors. The bacterial cells were rod-shaped with transient branches 2.50-4.00 μm in length with most forming in a V-shaped arrangement. The genome size of Paenarthrobacter sp. A01 had a total length of 4,885,005 bp with a GC content of 63.5%, and it contained 104 contigs and 55 RNAs. The effects of pH, temperature, initial substrate concentration and additional carbon source on the biodegradation of SMZ were investigated. The results indicated that pH 6.0-7.8, 25 °C and the addition of 0.2 g/L sodium acetate favored the biodegradation, whereas a high concentration of SMZ, 500 mg/L, had an inhibitory effect. The biodegradation kinetics with SMZ as the sole carbon source or 0.2 g/L sodium acetate as the co-substrate fit the modified Gompertz model well with a correlation coefficient (R²) of 0.99. Three biodegradation pathways were proposed involving nine biodegradation products, among which C₆H₉N₃O₂S and C₁₂H₁₂N₂ were two novel biodegradation products that have not been reported previously. Approximately 90.7% of SMZ was transformed to 2-amino-4, 6-dimethylpyrimidine. Furthermore, sad genes responsible for catabolizing sulfonamides were characterized in A01 with high similarities of 96.0%-100.0%. This study will fill the knowledge gap in the biodegradation of this ubiquitous micropollutant in the aquatic environment.

Overview of sulfonamide biodegradation and the relevant pathways and microorganisms

Sulfonamide antibiotics have aroused increasing concerns due to their ability to enhance the resistance of pathogenic bacteria and promote the spread of antibiotic resistance. Biodegradation plays an important role in sulfonamide dissipation in both natural and engineered ecosystems. In this article, we provided an overview of sulfonamide biodegradation in different systems and summarized the relevant sulfonamide-degrading species and metabolic pathways. The removal of sulfonamides depends on a variety of factors, such as the type and initial concentration of sulfonamides, the properties of water or soil, and treatment process. The removal efficiency of sulfonamides by engineered ecosystems can be improved by optimizing their operating conditions. Much higher sulfonamide removal was also observed in upgraded or advanced treatment systems than in conventional activated sludge systems. Ammonia oxidation might promote sulfonamide biodegradation. In addition, sulfonamide-degraders from different bacterial genera have been isolated and classified, but no bioaugmentation practice has been reported. Different pathways have been detected in sulfonamide biodegradation. Further efforts will be necessary to elucidate in-situ degraders and the metabolic pathways and functional genes of sulfonamide biodegradation.

Study of ciprofloxacin biodegradation by a Thermus sp. isolated from pharmaceutical sludge

Ciprofloxacin (CIP) is an antibiotic drug frequently detected in manure compost and is difficult to decompose at high temperatures, resulting in a potential threat to the environment. Microbial degradation is an effective and environmentally friendly method to degrade CIP. In this study, a thermophilic bacterium that can degrade CIP was isolated from sludge sampled from an antibiotics pharmaceutical factory. This strain is closely related to Thermus thermophilus based on 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis and is designated C419. The optimal temperature and pH values for CIP degradation are 70°C and 6.5, respectively, and an appropriate sodium acetate concentration promotes CIP degradation. Seven major biodegradation metabolites were identified by an ultra-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry analysis. In addition, strain C419 degraded other fluoroquinolones, including ofloxacin, norfloxacin and enrofloxacin. The supernatant from the C419 culture grown in fluoroquinolone-containing media showed attenuated antibacterial activity. These results indicate that strain C419 might be a new auxiliary bacterial resource for the biodegradation of fluoroquinolone residue in thermal environments.

Biodegradation of sulfonamides by Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 and Shewanella sp. strain MR-4

Because of extensive sulfonamides application in aquaculture and animal husbandry and the consequent increase in sulfonamides discharged into the environment, strategies to remediate sulfonamide-contaminated environments are essential. In this study, the resistance of Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 and Shewanella sp. strain MR-4 to the sulfonamides sulfapyridine (SPY) and sulfamethoxazole (SMX) were determined, and sulfonamides degradation by these strains was assessed. Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 and Shewanella sp. strain MR-4 were resistant to SPY and SMX concentrations as high as 60 mg/L. After incubation for 5 days, 23.91 ± 1.80 and 23.43 ± 2.98% of SPY and 59.88 ± 1.23 and 63.89 ± 3.09% of SMX contained in the medium were degraded by S. oneidensis MR-1 and Shewanella sp. strain MR-4, respectively. The effects of the initial concentration of the sulfonamides and initial pH of the medium on biodegradation, and the degradation of different sulfonamides were assessed. The products were measured by LC-MS; with SPY as a substrate, 2-AP (2-aminopyridine) was the main stable metabolite, and with SMX as a substrate, 3A5MI (3-amino-5-methyl-isoxazole) was the main stable metabolite. The co-occurrence of 2-AP or 3A5MI and 4-aminobenzenesulfonic acid suggests that the initial step in the biodegradation of the two sulfonamides is S-N bond cleavage. These results suggest that S. oneidensis MR-1 and Shewanella sp. strain MR-4 are potential bacterial resources for biodegrading sulfonamides and therefore bioremediation of sulfonamide-polluted environments.