Dynamics of microbial communities during biotransformation of nitrofurantoin

Amanda Pacholak; Agnieszka Zgoła-Grześkowiak; Ewa Kaczorek

doi:10.1016/j.envres.2022.114531

Dynamics of microbial communities during biotransformation of nitrofurantoin

Environ Res. 2023 Jan 1;216(Pt 2):114531. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2022.114531. Epub 2022 Oct 13.

Authors

Amanda Pacholak¹, Agnieszka Zgoła-Grześkowiak², Ewa Kaczorek³

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Chemical Technology and Engineering, Poznan University of Technology, Poland. Electronic address: amanda.pacholak@put.poznan.pl.
² Institute of Chemistry and Technical Electrochemistry, Poznan University of Technology, Poland.
³ Institute of Chemical Technology and Engineering, Poznan University of Technology, Poland.

PMID: 36244438
DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2022.114531

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to investigate the biodegradation of nitrofurantoin (NFT), a typical nitrofuran antibiotic of potential carcinogenic properties, by two microbial communities derived from distinct environmental niches - mountain stream (NW) and seaport water (SS). The collected environmental samples represent the reserve of the protected area with no human intervention and the contaminated area that concentrates intense human activities. The structure, composition, and diversity of the communities were analyzed at three timepoints during NFT biodegradation. Comamonadaceae (43.2%) and Pseudomonadaceae (19.6%) were the most abundant families in the initial NW sample. The top families in the initial SS sample included Aeromonadaceae (31.4%) and Vibrionaceae (25.3%). The proportion of the most abundant families in both consortia was remarkably reduced in all samples treated with NFT. The biodiversity significantly increased in both consortia treated with NFT suggesting that NFT significantly alters community structure in the aquatic systems. In this study, NFT removal efficiency and transformation products were also studied. The biodegradation rate decreased with the increasing initial NFT concentration. Biodegradation followed similar pathways for both consortia and led to the formation of transformation products: 1-aminohydantoin, semicarbazide (SEM), and hydrazine (HYD). SEM and HYD were detected for the first time as NFT biotransformation products. This study demonstrates that the structure of the microbial community may be directly correlated with the presence of NFT. Enchanced biodiversity of the microbial community does not have to be correlated with increase in functional capacity, such as the ability to biodegradation because higher biodiversity corresponded to lower biodegradation. Our findings provide new insights into the effect of NFT contamination on aquatic microbiomes. The study also increases our understanding of the environmental impact of nitrofuran residues and their biodegradation.

Keywords: Antibiotic; Bacteria; Degradation; Metagenomics; Nitrofuran; Transformation products.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Biodegradation, Environmental
Biodiversity
Biotransformation
Humans
Microbial Consortia
Microbiota*
Nitrofurantoin* / chemistry
Nitrofurantoin* / metabolism
Nitrofurantoin* / pharmacology

Substances

Nitrofurantoin