Electrocatalytic inactivation of antibiotic resistant bacteria and control of antibiotic resistance dissemination risk

Haiyang Liu; Xiuyi Hua; Ya-Nan Zhang; Tingting Zhang; Jiao Qu; Tom M Nolte; Guangchao Chen; Deming Dong

doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2021.118189

Electrocatalytic inactivation of antibiotic resistant bacteria and control of antibiotic resistance dissemination risk

Environ Pollut. 2021 Dec 15:291:118189. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2021.118189. Epub 2021 Sep 15.

Authors

Haiyang Liu¹, Xiuyi Hua², Ya-Nan Zhang³, Tingting Zhang³, Jiao Qu⁴, Tom M Nolte⁵, Guangchao Chen⁶, Deming Dong²

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Groundwater Resources and Environment, Ministry of Education, Jilin Provincial Key Laboratory of Water Resources and Environment, College of New Energy and Environment, Jilin University, Changchun, 130012, China; School of Environment, Northeast Normal University, NO. 2555 Jingyue Street, Changchun, Jilin, 130117, China.
² Key Laboratory of Groundwater Resources and Environment, Ministry of Education, Jilin Provincial Key Laboratory of Water Resources and Environment, College of New Energy and Environment, Jilin University, Changchun, 130012, China.
³ School of Environment, Northeast Normal University, NO. 2555 Jingyue Street, Changchun, Jilin, 130117, China.
⁴ School of Environment, Northeast Normal University, NO. 2555 Jingyue Street, Changchun, Jilin, 130117, China. Electronic address: quj100@nenu.edu.cn.
⁵ Department of Environmental Science, Institute for Water and Wetland Research, Radboud University Nijmegen, 6500, GL Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
⁶ Institute of Environmental Sciences, Leiden University, 2300, RA Leiden, the Netherlands.

PMID: 34543954
DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2021.118189

Abstract

Antibiotic resistance in environmental matrices becomes urgently significant for public health and has been considered as an emerging environmental contaminant. In this work, the ampicillin-resistant Escherichia coli (AR E. coli) and corresponding resistance genes (bla_TEM-1) were effectively eliminated by the electrocatalytic process, and the dissemination risk of antibiotic resistance was also investigated. All the AR E. coli (∼8 log) was inactivated and 8.17 log bla_TEM-1 was degraded by the carbon nanotubes/agarose/titanium (CNTs/AG/Ti) electrode within 30 min. AR E. coli was inactivated mainly attributing to the damage of cell membrane, which was attacked by reactive oxygen species and subsequent leakage of intracellular cytoplasm. The bla_TEM-1 was degraded owing to the strand breaking in the process of electrocatalytic degradation. Furthermore, the dissemination risk of antibiotic resistance was effectively controlled after being electrocatalytic treatment. This study provided an effective electrocatalytic technology for the inactivation of antibiotic resistant bacteria and control of antibiotic resistance dissemination risk in the aqueous environment.

Keywords: Antibiotic resistance genes; Antibiotic resistant bacteria; Dissemination risk; Electrocatalytic advanced oxidation process.

MeSH terms

Anti-Bacterial Agents* / pharmacology
Bacteria
Drug Resistance, Microbial
Escherichia coli
Nanotubes, Carbon*

Substances

Anti-Bacterial Agents
Nanotubes, Carbon