A systematic review of antibiotics and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in mariculture wastewater: Antibiotics removal by microalgal-bacterial symbiotic system (MBSS), ARGs characterization on the metagenomic

Abstract

Antibiotic residues in mariculture wastewater seriously affect the aquatic environment. Antibiotic Resistance Genes (ARGs) produced under antibiotic stress flow through the environment and eventually enter the human body, seriously affecting human health. Microalgal-bacterial symbiotic system (MBSS) can remove antibiotics from mariculture and reduce the flow of ARGs into the environment. This review encapsulates the present scenario of mariculture wastewater, the removal mechanism of MBSS for antibiotics, and the biomolecular information under metagenomic assay. When confronted with antibiotics, there was a notable augmentation in the extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) content within MBSS, along with a concurrent elevation in the proportion of protein (PN) constituents within the EPS, which limits the entry of antibiotics into the cellular interior. Quorum sensing stimulates the microorganisms to produce biological responses (DNA synthesis - for adhesion) through signaling. Oxidative stress promotes gene expression (coupling, conjugation) to enhance horizontal gene transfer (HGT) in MBSS. The microbial community under metagenomic detection is dominated by aerobic bacteria in the bacterial-microalgal system. Compared to aerobic bacteria, anaerobic bacteria had the significant advantage of decreasing the distribution of ARGs. Overall, MBSS exhibits remarkable efficacy in mitigating the challenges posed by antibiotics and resistant genes from mariculture wastewater.

Keywords: ARGs; Antibiotic removal; Mariculture wastewater; Metagenomic; Microalgal-bacterial symbiotic system; Microbial community structure.