Fate of antibiotic resistance genes in mesophilic and thermophilic anaerobic digestion of chemically enhanced primary treatment (CEPT) sludge

Hyun Min Jang; Jingyeong Shin; Sangki Choi; Seung Gu Shin; Ki Young Park; Jinwoo Cho; Young Mo Kim

doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2017.07.153

Fate of antibiotic resistance genes in mesophilic and thermophilic anaerobic digestion of chemically enhanced primary treatment (CEPT) sludge

Bioresour Technol. 2017 Nov;244(Pt 1):433-444. doi: 10.1016/j.biortech.2017.07.153. Epub 2017 Jul 29.

Authors

Hyun Min Jang¹, Jingyeong Shin¹, Sangki Choi¹, Seung Gu Shin², Ki Young Park³, Jinwoo Cho⁴, Young Mo Kim⁵

Affiliations

¹ School of Earth Sciences and Environmental Engineering, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology, Buk-gu, Gwangju 500-712, Republic of Korea.
² School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), 77 Cheongam-Ro, Nam-Gu, Pohang, Gyeongbuk, Republic of Korea.
³ Department of Civil and Environmental System Engineering, Konkuk University, Gwangjin-gu, Seoul 143-701, Republic of Korea.
⁴ Department of Environment and Energy, Sejong University, Gwangjin-Gu, Seoul 143-747, Republic of Korea.
⁵ School of Earth Sciences and Environmental Engineering, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology, Buk-gu, Gwangju 500-712, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: youngmo@gist.ac.kr.

PMID: 28797965
DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2017.07.153

Abstract

Anaerobic digestion (AD) of chemically enhanced primary treatment (CEPT) sludge and non-CEPT (conventional sedimentation) sludge were comparatively operated under mesophilic and thermophilic conditions. The highest methane yield (692.46±0.46mL CH₄/g VS_removed in CEPT sludge) was observed in mesophilic AD of CEPT sludge. Meanwhile, thermophilic conditions were more favorable for the removal of total antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs). In this study, no measurable difference in the fates and removal of ARGs and class 1 integrin-integrase gene (intI1) was observed between treated non-CEPT and CEPT sludge. However, redundancy analysis indicated that shifts in bacterial community were primarily accountable for the variations in ARGs and intI1. Network analysis further revealed potential host bacteria for ARGs and intI1.

Keywords: Anaerobic digestion (AD); Antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs); Chemically enhanced primary treatment (CEPT); Microbial community; quantitative PCR (qPCR).

MeSH terms

Anaerobiosis
Anti-Bacterial Agents*
Bacteria / genetics
Drug Resistance, Microbial*
Sewage*

Substances

Anti-Bacterial Agents
Sewage