Artificial microbial consortium producing oxidases enhanced the biotransformation efficiencies of multi-antibiotics

A hydrogel-based composite facilitates efficient and recyclable tetracycline biodegradation in aquatic environments

Tetracycline antibiotics residues pose significant health risks to individual and public health by their cytotoxicity and promotion on antibiotic resistance spread. Tet(X4) is a newly-identified tetracycline-inactivating enzyme that efficiently eliminates all antibiotics within tetracycline class. To address the limitations of Tet(X4)-based approaches in suboptimal stability and cost-efficiency balance in realistic environments, this study established a hydrogel-based composite to encapsulate the Tet(X4) for efficiently and economically eliminating the tetracycline residues in aqueous environments. Herein, we synthesized a composite comprising carboxymethyl chitosan (CC), agarose (Ag), Tet(X4), Fe3O4, and CaO2. It maintained 73.1 ± 9.4 %, 50.0 ± 2.8 % and 58.9 ± 0.6 % of enzymatic activity with desirable tolerance to UV, and ionic strength. By exploring the properties of composites, we found that 3 % Tet(X4) in a 1.0 g weighted composite with average diameters of 5.0 mm could efficiently degrade tetracycline residues. Additionally, the magnetic components in the composite conferred recyclability to the Tet(X4)-dependent biodegradation for multiple use, maximally reducing the costs. The composite endowed the promising applicability of Tet(X4) to eradicate approximately 85 % the residual tetracyclines in various aqueous environments, including tap water, lakes, pharmaceutical wastewater, and livestock sewage. Mouse experiments showed that the as-prepared composites are totally safe and will not cause metabolic and immune abnormalities. Taken together, this study constructed a feasible platform to render the Tet(X4)-mediated tetracycline removal more stable and recyclable, highlighting encapsulation with the nanocarriers as a promising strategy to facilitate the enzymatic degradation of antibiotic residues with enhanced efficiency, stability and recyclability.

Improved engineered fungal-bacterial commensal consortia simultaneously degrade multiantibiotics and biotransform food waste into lipopeptides

Resource utilization of food waste is necessary to reduce environmental pollution. However, antibiotics can enter the environment through food waste, resulting in antibiotic residues, which pose potential risks to human health. In this study, commensal artificial consortia were constructed through intercellular adaptation to simultaneously degrade antibiotics and bioconvert food waste into lipopeptides. The biodegradation efficiency of oxytetracycline in the three-strain consortium, which contained lipopeptide-producing Bacillus amyloliquefaciens HM618, high-level proline-producing Corynebacterium glutamate, and laccase-producing Pichia pastoris, was around 100% in the food waste medium at 72 h; this was higher than that in the pure culture of P. pastoris-Lac. Sulfamethoxazole could be removed at 48 h. However, the lipopeptide level in the three-strain consortium was only 77 mg/L. The four-strain consortium containing free fatty acid-producing Yarrowia lipolytica improved the lipopeptide level to around 218 mg/L. The degradation efficiency of oxytetracycline in the four-strain consortium was 100% at 48 h; however, only 56% of the sulfamethoxazole was removed over 96 h. Three five-strain consortia were formed by introducing recombinant manganese peroxidase-producing P. pastoris, recombinant HM618 with high-level amylase, and serine-producing C. glutamicum. In low starch food waste, the highest degradation efficiency of sulfamethoxazole was 71%, while oxytetracycline could be completely removed at 48 h. However, oxytetracycline inhibited starch degradation and lipopeptide production. The high level of starch improved lipopeptide synthesis to 1280 mg/L. The results of this study provide a feasible strategy for the resource utilization of inferior biomass food waste.

Biotransformation of enrofloxacin-copper combined pollutant in aqueous environments by fungus Cladosporium cladosporioides (CGMCC 40504)

The combined pollution of antibiotics and heavy metals in aqueous environments increases the risk of aquatic ecosystem disruption and the complication of pollutant management. Here, a fungus Cladosporium cladosporioides 11 (CC11) isolated from aquaculture pond sediments possessed effective capacities to biotransform the combined pollution of enrofloxacin (ENR) and copper ion (Cu). ENR and Cu were considerably abated by CC11, and the presence of Cu (30 mg/L) promoted the biotransformation efficiency of ENR. The biotranformation of ENR in ENR-Cu co-contamination was associated to ligninolytic enzyme action. The expression of ligninolytic enzymes was enhanced by ENR and ENR-Cu combined pollution. And the increased activities of ligninolytic enzymes confirmed the significant role of enzymatic transformation. Cu played an important role in increasing the expression and activities of ligninolytic enzymes. The expressions of many genes associated with transporters, phosphate assimilation, oxidative phosphorylation, hyperosmotic stress and pectin metabolism were significantly up-regulated when facing Cu-stress, indicating their important roles in determining Cu removal and enhancing Cu-resistance. Additionally, CC11 significantly biotransformed other antibiotic and heavy metal combined pollution. All these results contributed to the applications of CC11 in aqueous environments.

Direct evolution of an alkaline fungal laccase to degrade tetracyclines

A fungal laccase-mediator system capable of high effectively oxidizing tetracyclines under a wide pH range will benefit environmental protection. This study reported a directed evolution of a laccase PIE5 to improve its performance on tetracyclines oxidization at alkaline conditions. Two mutants, namely MutA (D229N/A244V) and MutB (N123A/D229N/A244V) were obtained. Although they shared a similar optimum pH and temperature as PIE5, the two mutants displayed approximately 2- and 5-fold higher specific activity toward the mediators ABTS and guaiacol at pHs 4.0 to 6.5, respectively. Simultaneously, their catalytic efficiency increased by 8.0- and 6.4-fold compared to PIE5. At a pH range of 5-8 and 28 °C, MutA or MutB at a final concentration of 2.5 U·mL-1 degraded 77 % and 81 % of 100 mg·L-1 tetracycline within 10 min, higher than PIE5 (45 %). Furthermore, 0.1 U·mL-1 MutA or MutB completely degraded 100 mg·L-1 chlortetracycline within 6 min in the presence of 0.1 mM ABTS. At pH 8.0, MutA degraded tetracycline and chlortetracycline following the routine pathways were reported previously based on LC-MS analysis.

Transformation of antibiotics to non-toxic and non-bactericidal products by laccases ensure the safety of Stropharia rugosoannulata

The substantial use of antibiotics contributes to the spread and evolution of antibiotic resistance, posing potential risks to food production systems, including mushroom production. In this study, the potential risk of antibiotics to Stropharia rugosoannulata, the third most productive straw-rotting mushroom in China, was assessed, and the underlying mechanisms were investigated. Tetracycline exposure at environmentally relevant concentrations (<500 μg/L) did not influence the growth of S. rugosoannulata mycelia, while high concentrations of tetracycline (>500 mg/L) slightly inhibited its growth. Biodegradation was identified as the main antibiotic removal mechanism in S. rugosoannulata, with a degradation rate reaching 98.31 % at 200 mg/L tetracycline. High antibiotic removal efficiency was observed with secreted proteins of S. rugosoannulata, showing removal efficiency in the order of tetracyclines > sulfadiazines > quinolones. Antibiotic degradation products lost the ability to inhibit the growth of Escherichia coli, and tetracycline degradation products could not confer a growth advantage to antibiotic-resistant strains. Two laccases, SrLAC1 and SrLAC9, responsible for antibiotic degradation were identified based on proteomic analysis. Eleven antibiotics from tetracyclines, sulfonamides, and quinolones families could be transformed by these two laccases with degradation rates of 95.54-99.95 %, 54.43-100 %, and 5.68-57.12 %, respectively. The biosafety of the antibiotic degradation products was evaluated using the Toxicity Estimation Software Tool (TEST), revealing a decreased toxicity or no toxic effect. None of the S. rugosoannulata fruiting bodies from seven provinces in China contained detectable antibiotic-resistance genes (ARGs). This study demonstrated that S. rugosoannulata can degrade antibiotics into non-toxic and non-bactericidal products that do not accelerate the spread of antibiotic resistance, ensuring the safety of S. rugosoannulata production.

Quantitative assessment, molecular docking and novel metabolic pathways reveal the interaction mechanisms between norfloxacin biodegradation and environmental implications

Norfloxacin (NOR) is widely used in medicine and animal husbandry, but its accumulation in the environment poses a substantial threat to ecological and human health. Traditional physical, chemical, and rudimentary biological methods often fall short in mitigating NOR contamination, necessitating innovative biological approaches. This study proposes an engineered bacterial consortium found in marine sediment as a strategy to enhance NOR degradation through inter-strain co-metabolism of diverse substrates. Strategically supplementing the engineered bacterial consortium with exogenous carbon sources and metal ions boosted the activity of key degradation enzymes like laccase, manganese peroxidase, and dehydrogenase. Iron and amino acids demonstrated synergistic effects, resulting in a remarkable 70.8% reduction in NOR levels. The innovative application of molecular docking elucidated enzyme interactions with NOR, uncovering potential biodegradation mechanisms. Quantitative assessment reinforced the efficiency of NOR degradation within the engineered bacterial consortium. Four metabolic routes are herein proposed: acetylation, defluorination, ring scission, and hydroxylation. Notably, this study discloses distinctive, co-operative metabolic pathways for NOR degradation within the specific microbial community. These findings provide new ways of understanding and investigating the bioremediation potential of NOR contaminants, which may lead to the development of more sustainable and effective environmental management strategies.

Detoxification of tetracycline and synthetic dyes by a newly characterized Lentinula edodes laccase, and safety assessment using proteomic analysis

Fungal laccase has strong ability in detoxification of many environmental contaminants. A putative laccase gene, LeLac12, from Lentinula edodes was screened by secretome approach. LeLac12 was heterogeneously expressed and purified to characterize its enzymatic properties to evaluate its potential use in bioremediation. This study showed that the extracellular fungal laccase from L. edodes could effectively degrade tetracycline (TET) and the synthetic dye Acid Green 25 (AG). The growth inhibition of Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis by TET revealed that the antimicrobial activity was significantly reduced after treatment with the laccase-HBT system. 16 transformation products of TET were identified by UPLC-MS-TOF during the laccase-HBT oxidation process. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis revealed that LeLac12 could completely mineralize ring-cleavage products. LeLac12 completely catalyzed 50 mg/L TET within 4 h by adding AG (200 mg/L), while the degradation of AG was above 96% even in the co-contamination system. Proteomic analysis revealed that central carbon metabolism, energy metabolism, and DNA replication/repair were affected by TET treatment and the latter system could contribute to the formation of multidrug-resistant strains. The results demonstrate that LeLac12 is an efficient and environmentally method for the removal of antibiotics and dyes in the complex polluted wastewater.

Characterization and removal mechanism of fluoroquinolone-bioremediation by fungus Cladosporium cladosporioides 11 isolated from aquacultural sediments

Antibiotics have been widely detected in aquatic environments, and fungal biotransformation receives considerable attention for antibiotic bioremediation. Here, a fungus designated Cladosporium cladosporioides 11 (CC11) with effective capacity to biotransform fluoroquinolones was isolated from aquaculture pond sediments. Enrofloxacin (ENR), ciprofloxacin (CIP) and ofloxacin (OFL) were considerably abated by CC11, and the antibacterial activities of the fluoroquinolones reduced significantly after CC11 treatment. Transcriptome analysis showed the removal of ENR, CIP and OFL by CC11 is a process of enzymatic degradation and biosorption which consists well with ligninolytic enzyme activities and sorption experiments under the same conditions. Additionally, CC11 significantly removed ENR in zebrafish culture water and reduced the residue of ENR in zebrafish. All these results evidenced the potential of CC11 as a novel environmentally friendly process for the removal of fluoroquinolones from aqueous systems and reduce fluoroquinolone residues in aquatic organisms.

Sonolytic degradation kinetics and mechanisms of antibiotics in water and cow milk

Antibiotics (ABX) residues frequently occurred in water and cow milk. This work aims to understand the kinetics and mechanisms of sonolytic degradation of four ABX, i.e. ceftiofur hydrochloride (CEF), sulfamonomethoxine sodium (SMM), marbofloxacin (MAR), and oxytetracycline (OTC) in water and milk. In both water and milk, the sonolytic degradation of ABX follows pseudo-first order (PFO) kinetics well (R2: 0.951-0.999), with significantly faster ABX degradation in water (PFO kinetics constants (k1): 1.5 × 10-3-1.2 × 10-1 min-1) than in milk (k1: 3.5 × 10-4-5.6 × 10-2 min-1). The k1 values for SMM degradation in water increased by 118% with ultrasonic frequency (40-120 kHz), 174% with ultrasonic frequency (80-500 kHz), 649% with ultrasonic power (73-259 W), 22% with bulk temperature (12-40℃), and by 68% with reaction volume (50-250 mL), respectively, in other things being equal. The relevant k1 values in milk increased by 326%, 231%, 122%, 10% as well as 82% with the above same effective factors, respectively. The oxidation by free radicals generated in situ dominates ABX degradation, and the hydrophobic CEF (54.0-971.7 nM min-1) and SMM (39.2-798.4 nM min-1) underwent faster degradation than the hydrophilic MAR (33.9-751.9 nM min-1) and OTC (33.8-545.3 nM min-1) in both water and milk. Adding an extra 0.5 mM H2O2 accelerated SMM degradation by 19% in water and 33% in milk. After 130-150 min sonication of 100 mL of 2.0 mg L-1 (6.62 μM) SMM in various milk with 500 kHz and 259 W, the residue concentrations (52.9-96.3 μg L-1) can meet the relevant maximum residue limit (100 μg L-1).

Natural detoxification of antibiotics in the environment: A one health perspective

The extended concept of one health integrates biological, geological, and chemical (bio-geo-chemical) components. Anthropogenic antibiotics are constantly and increasingly released into the soil and water environments. The fate of these drugs in the thin Earth space ("critical zone") where the biosphere is placed determines the effect of antimicrobial agents on the microbiosphere, which can potentially alter the composition of the ecosystem and lead to the selection of antibiotic-resistant microorganisms including animal and human pathogens. However, soil and water environments are highly heterogeneous in their local composition; thus the permanence and activity of antibiotics. This is a case of "molecular ecology": antibiotic molecules are adsorbed and eventually inactivated by interacting with biotic and abiotic molecules that are present at different concentrations in different places. There are poorly explored aspects of the pharmacodynamics (PD, biological action) and pharmacokinetics (PK, rates of decay) of antibiotics in water and soil environments. In this review, we explore the various biotic and abiotic factors contributing to antibiotic detoxification in the environment. These factors range from spontaneous degradation to the detoxifying effects produced by clay minerals (forming geochemical platforms with degradative reactions influenced by light, metals, or pH), charcoal, natural organic matter (including cellulose and chitin), biodegradation by bacterial populations and complex bacterial consortia (including "bacterial subsistence"; in other words, microbes taking antibiotics as nutrients), by planktonic microalgae, fungi, plant removal and degradation, or sequestration by living and dead cells (necrobiome detoxification). Many of these processes occur in particulated material where bacteria from various origins (microbiota coalescence) might also attach (microbiotic particles), thereby determining the antibiotic environmental PK/PD and influencing the local selection of antibiotic resistant bacteria. The exploration of this complex field requires a multidisciplinary effort in developing the molecular ecology of antibiotics, but could result in a much more precise determination of the one health hazards of antibiotic production and release.