Tetracycline removal in granulation: Influence of extracellular polymers substances, structure, and metabolic function of microbial community

Lilong Yan; Wanting Chen; Caixu Wang; Shuang Liu; Cong Liu; Liangbin Yu; Yaoqi Zheng; Jishuang Jiang; Yaoli Zhang; Changlei Xia; Su Shiung Lam

doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.132510

Tetracycline removal in granulation: Influence of extracellular polymers substances, structure, and metabolic function of microbial community

Chemosphere. 2022 Feb;288(Pt 2):132510. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.132510. Epub 2021 Oct 7.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ College of Resource and Environment, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin, 150030, China. Electronic address: yanll98@163.com.
² College of Resource and Environment, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin, 150030, China.
³ Jiangsu Co-Innovation Center of Efficient Processing and Utilization of Forest Resources, International Innovation Center for Forest Chemicals and Materials, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 210037, China.
⁴ Jiangsu Co-Innovation Center of Efficient Processing and Utilization of Forest Resources, International Innovation Center for Forest Chemicals and Materials, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 210037, China. Electronic address: changlei.xia@njfu.edu.cn.
⁵ Jiangsu Co-Innovation Center of Efficient Processing and Utilization of Forest Resources, International Innovation Center for Forest Chemicals and Materials, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 210037, China; Higher Institution Centre of Excellence (HICoE), Institute of Tropical Aquaculture and Fisheries (AKUATROP), Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, 21030, Kuala Nerus, Terengganu, Malaysia; Henan Province International Collaboration Lab of Forest Resources Utilization, School of Forestry, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou, 450002, China. Electronic address: lam@umt.edu.my.

PMID: 34627823
DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.132510

Abstract

Tetracycline is a potentially hazardous residual antibiotic detected in various sewages. High concentration (mg/L) of tetracycline is found in pharmaceutical/hospital wastewater and wastewater derived from livestock and poultry. So far, only antibiotics in μg/L level have been reported in granulation of aerobic sludge during wastewater treatment, but its effects in high concentration are rarely reported. In this study, the influence of tetracycline in high concentration (∼2 mg/L) on the formation of granular sludge, structure, and metabolic function of the microbial community during the granulation of aerobic sludge was investigated to improve the understanding of the aerobic granular sludge formation under high-level of tetracycline. The role of extracellular polymers substances (EPSs) derived from granular sludge in the granulation and tetracycline removal process was also investigated, showing that tetracycline improved the relative hydrophobicity, flocculability and protein/polysaccharide ratio of EPSs, accelerating the granulation of sludge. Succession of microbial communities occurred during the domestication of functional bacteria present in the sludge and was accompanied with regulation of metabolic function. The addition of tetracycline lead to an increase of tetracycline-degrading bacteria or antibiotic resistance genus. Those findings provide new perspectives of the influence of tetracycline on aerobic sludge granulation and the removal mechanism of tetracycline.

Keywords: Aerobic granular sludge; Granulation; Metabolic function; Microbial community; Tetracycline.

MeSH terms

Anti-Bacterial Agents
Extracellular Polymeric Substance Matrix
Microbiota*
Polymers
Tetracyclines

Substances

Anti-Bacterial Agents
Polymers
Tetracyclines