Enantiomerization and enantioselective bioaccumulation of diclofop-methyl in tubifex worms

In this study, the hydrolysis of diclofop-methyl (DM) in aqueous system and the bioaccumulation of its main metabolite, Diclofop (DA), in the tubifex worms were investigated using enantioselective high-performance liquid chromatography. With the addition of tubifex, rapid hydrolysis was observed for DM. It is revealed that the hydrolysis of DM in the water and the accumulation of DA in the worms were both enantioselective. Meanwhile, either the hydrolysis amount or the levels of enantioselectivity were influenced by the tubifex. After incubated for 24 h, about 94.6% of the DM was hydrolyzed and the enantiomer fraction of metabolite (DA) deviated from 0.5 with R-DA significantly higher than S-DA. The enantiopure S-DM and R-DM and S-DA and R-DA were incubated, and enantiomerizations were detected between the two DM enantiomers with S-form inversing into R-form and vice versa. It was found that the S-DM exhibited a higher tendency to invert than the R-DM.

Elucidating the microbial community associated with the protein preference of sludge-degrading worms

Sludge predation by aquatic worms results in an increased sludge reduction rate, which is mainly due to the specific removal of a protein fraction from the sludge. As microorganisms play an essential role in sludge hydrolysis a better understanding of the microbial community involved in the worm predation process will provide more insight into the relations between the aquatic worms, their associated microbiome and the efficient sludge reduction. In this study, the microbial community associated with predation by the Tubifex tubifex was investigated. The microbial diversity in the samples of the worm faeces (WF), predated activated sludge and protein-rich substrates were compared. The results indicated that predation on sludge resulted in a microbial change from Actinobacteria (44%) in the sludge, to Proteobacteria (64%) and Bacteriodites (36%) in the WF. Interestingly, the faecal microbial community was more related to the community in (predated) protein-rich substrates than to the community in predated or endogenously respirated activated sludge samples. This similar microbial community could be due to microbial utilisation of protein hydrolysis products. Alternatively, conditions in the worm gut could facilitate a protein hydrolysing community which assists in protein hydrolysis. The genera Burkholderiales, Chryseobacterium and Flavobacterium were found to be associated with predation by T. tubifex.

Enantioselective determination of triazole fungicide epoxiconazole bioaccumulation in tubifex based on HPLC-MS/MS

In this study, the enantioselective bioaccumulation of epoxiconazole enantiomers in tubifex (Oligochaeta, Tubificida) was investigated in two uptake pathways. A sensitive and rapid chiral method was developed for the determination of epoxiconazole enantiomers in tubifex and soil based on high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with triple-quadrupole mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS). In the spiked-water or spiked-soil treatments, enantioselective bioaccumulation of epoxiconazole in tubifex was obersved. For spiked-water treatment, (-)-epoxiconazole accumulated in tubifex to a greater extent than (+)-epoxiconazole, leading to enrichments with a composition (-) > (+). However, for spiked-soil treatment, the enantioselectivity in tubifex was reversed with a preferential accumulation of (+)-epoxiconazole. Calculated accumulation factors (AFs) indicated that epoxiconazole in spiked-water treatment had higher bioaccumulation potential than that in spiked-soil treatment. The results from the spiked-soil treatment also revealed that the dissipation of epoxiconazole in soil was enantioselective, and tubifex has positive effects on epoxiconazole diffusion from soil to overlying water.

Enantioselective bioaccumulation and dissipation of soil-associated metalaxyl enantiomers in tubifex

Many pesticides are chiral compounds and stereochemistry is an important factor for any reaction of chiral structures in biological systems. In this study, experiment about bioaccumulation of the two metalaxyl enantiomers in Tubifex (Oligochaeta, Tubificida) was conducted in laboratory aquatic ecosystems. Terrestrial soil spiked with two dose levels of metalaxyl was employed as the artificial bottom substrate. A method of determination of metalaxyl enantiomers in tubifex tissue, soil and overlying water were developed by HPLC. During a 14-day exposure, concentrations of metalaxyl in tubifex increased with the of soil concentration, however, the enantioselective bioaccumulation was only detected at high-dose exposure group, with the preferential accumulation of (-)-(R)-metalaxyl. The bioturbation activity of tubifex decreased water clarity and released soil-associated metalaxyl to overlying water. In those experiments where tubifex was exposed to metalaxyl from soil, pore water and overlying water, each route contributed to the total body burden, and our results indicated the pore water and soil are the primary exposure routes for high-dose exposure concentration treatment.