Sulfamethoxazole impact on pollutant removal and microbial community of aerobic granular sludge with filamentous bacteria

Combined toxic effects of fluxapyroxad and multi-walled carbon nanotubes in Xenopus laevis larvae

Carbon nanomaterials rarely exist in isolation in the natural environment, and their combined effects cannot be ignored. Multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) have shown tremendous potential applications in diverse fields, including pollution remediation, biomedicine, energy, and smart agriculture. However, the combined toxicities of MWCNTs and pesticides on non-target organisms, particularly amphibians, are often overlooked. Fluxapyroxad (FLX), a significant succinate dehydrogenase inhibitor fungicide, has been extensively utilized for the protection of food and cash crops and control of fungi. This raises the possibility of coexistence of MWCNTs and FLX. The objective of this study was to explore the individual and combined toxic effects of FLX and MWCNTs on the early life stages of Xenopus laevis. Embryos were exposed to varying concentrations of FLX (0, 5, and 50 μg/L) either alone or in combination with MWCNTs (100 μg/L) for a duration of 17 days. The findings indicated that co-exposure to FLX and MWCNTs worsened the inhibition of growth, liver damage, and dysregulation of enzymatic activity in tadpoles. Liver transcriptomic analysis further revealed that the presence of MWCNTs exacerbated the disturbances in glucose and lipid metabolism caused by FLX. Additionally, the combined exposure groups exhibited amplified alterations in the composition and function of the gut microflora. Our study suggests that it is imperative to pay greater attention to the agricultural applications, management and ecological risks of MWCNTs in the future, considering MWCNTs may significantly enhance the toxicity of FLX.

Microbial community structure of an anaerobic side-stream coupled anoxic-aerobic membrane bioreactor (AOMBR-ASSR) for an in-situ sludge reduction process

With the anoxic-aerobic membrane bioreactor (AO-MBR, CP) as a reference, high-throughput sequencing technology was used to reveal the characteristics of the microbial community structure in the anaerobic side-stream anoxic-aerobic membrane bioreactor sludge reduction process (AOMBR-ASSR, SRP). After the stable operation of two processes for 120 days, the average removal efficiencies of TN and TP in the effluent of SRP were increased by 5.6% and 29.8%, respectively. The observed sludge yields (Yobs) of the two processes were 0.14 and 0.17 gMLSS/(gCOD), respectively, and the sludge reduction rate of the SRP was 19.5%. Compared to the CP, the microbial richness and diversity index of SRP increased significantly. Chloroflexi, which is responsible for the degradation of organic substances under an anaerobic condition, seemed to be reduced in the SRP. Meanwhile, other phyla that involved in the nitrogen cycle, such as Nitrospirae and Planctomycetes, were found to be more abundant in the SRP than in the CP. A total of 21 identified classes were observed, and primarily hydrolyzed fermented bacteria (Sphingobacteriia, Betaproteobacteria, Actinobacteria and Deltaproteobacteria) and slow-growing microorganisms (Bacilli) were accumulated in the SRP. At the genus level, the inserted anaerobic side-stream reactor favored the hydrolyzed bacteria (Saprospiraceae, Rhodobacter and Candidatus_Competibacter), fermented bacteria (Lactococcus and Trichococcus), and slow-growing microorganisms (Dechloromonas and Haliangium), which play a crucial role in the sludge reduction. Furthermore, the enrichment of bacterial species related to nitrogen (Nitrospir and Azospira) provided the potential for nitrogen removal, while the anaerobic environment of the side-stream reactor promoted the enrichment of phosphorus-accumulating organisms.

Bio-degraded of sulfamethoxazole by microbial consortia without addition nutrients: Mineralization, nitrogen removal, and proteomic characterization

Sulfamethoxazole (SMX) is widely employed as an antibiotic, while its residue in environment has become a common public concern. Using 100 mg/L SMX as the sole nutrient source, the acclimated sludge obtained by this study displayed an excellent SMX degradation performance. The addition of SMX resulted in significant microbiological differentiation within the acclimated sludge. Microbacterium (6.6%) was identified as the relatively dominant genera in metabolism group that used SMX as sole carbon source. Highly expressed proteins from this strain strongly suggested its essential role in SMX degradation, while the degradation of SMX by other strains (Thaurea 78%) in co-metabolism group appeared to also rely on this strain. The interactions of differentially expressed proteins were primarily involved in metabolic pathways including TCA cycle and nitrogen metabolism. It is concluded that the sulfonamides might serve not only as the carbon source but also as the nitrogen source in the reactor. A total of 24 intermediates were identified, 13 intermediates were newly reported. The constructed pathway suggested the mineralizing and nitrogen conversion ability towards SMX. Batch experiments also proved that the acclimated sludge displayed ability to biodegrade other sulfonamides, including SM2 and SDZ and SMX-N could be removed completely.

The presence of copper ions alters tetracycline removal pathway in aerobic granular sludge: Performance and mechanism

This study investigated the removal characteristics of tetracycline (TC) in the presence of copper ions (Cu2+) in aerobic granular sludge by analyzing the TC removal pathway, composition and functional group changes of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS), and microbial community structure. The TC removal pathway changed from cell biosorption to EPS biosorption, and the microbial degradation rate of TC was reduced by 21.37% in the presence of Cu2+. Cu2+ and TC induced enrichment of denitrifying bacteria and EPS-producing bacteria by regulating the expression of signaling molecules and amino acid synthesis genes to increase the content of EPS and -NH2 groups in EPS. Although Cu2+ reduced the content of acidic hydroxyl functional groups (AHFG) in EPS, an increase in TC concentration stimulated the secretion of more AHFG and -NH2 groups in EPS. The long-term presence of TC presence of the relative abundances of Thauera, Flavobacterium and Rhodobacter and improved the removal efficiency.

Responses of the microbial community and the production of extracellular polymeric substances to sulfamethazine shocks in a novel two-stage biological contact oxidation system

Introduction

The biological contact oxidation reactor is an effective technology for the treatment of antibiotic wastewater, but there has been little research investigating its performance on the sulfamethazine wastewater treatment.

Methods

In this study, a novel two-stage biological contact oxidation reactor was used for the first time to explore the impact of sulfamethazine (SMZ) on the performance, microbial community, extracellular polymeric substances (EPS), and antibiotic-resistant genes (ARGs).

Results

The chemical oxygen demand (COD) and ammonia nitrogen (NH 4 + -N) removal efficiencies kept stable at 86.93% and 83.97% with 0.1-1 mg/L SMZ addition and were inhibited at 3 mg/L SMZ. The presence of SMZ could affect the production and chemical composition of EPS in the biofilm, especially for the pronounced increase in TB-PN yield in response against the threat of SMZ. Metagenomics sequencing demonstrated that SMZ could impact on the microbial community, a high abundance of Candidatus_Promineofilum, unclassified_c__Anaerolineae, and unclassified_c__Betaproteobacteria were positively correlated to SMZ, especially for Candidatus_Promineofilum.

Discussion

Candidatus_Promineofilum not only had the ability of EPS secretion, but also was significantly associated with the primary SMZ resistance genes of sul1 and sul2, which developed resistance against SMZ pressure through the mechanism of targeted gene changes, further provided a useful and easy-implement technology for sulfamethazine wastewater treatment.