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Fan X, Gu C, Jin Z, Cai J, Bian Y, Wang F, Chen H, Jiang X. Major biotransformation of phthalic acid esters in Eisenia fetida: Mechanistic insights and association with catalytic enzymes and intestinal symbionts. ENVIRONMENT INTERNATIONAL 2023; 171:107712. [PMID: 36577298 DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2022.107712] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/02/2022] [Revised: 11/22/2022] [Accepted: 12/20/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Phthalic acid esters (PAEs) are an important group of organic pollutants that are widely used as plasticizers in the environment. The PAEs in soil organisms are likely to be biotransformed into a variety of metabolites, and the combined toxicity of PAEs and their metabolites might be more serious than PAEs alone. However, there are only a few studies on PAE biotransformation by terrestrial animals, e.g. earthworms. Herein, the key biotransformation pathways of PAEs and their association with catalytic enzymes and intestinal symbionts in earthworms were studied using in vivo and in vitro incubation approaches. The widely distributed PAE in soil, dibutyl phthalate (DBP), was proven to be biotransformed rapidly together with apparent bioaccumulation in earthworms. The biotransformation of PAE congeners with medium or long side chains appeared to be faster compared with those with short side chains. DBP was biotransformed into butyl methyl phthalate (BMP), monobutyl phthalate (MBP), and phthalic acid (PA) through esterolysis and transesterification. Besides, the generation of small quantities of low-molecular weight metabolites via β-oxidation, decarboxylation or ring-cleavage, was also observed, especially when the appropriate proportion of NADPH coenzyme was applied to transfer electrons for oxidases. Interestingly, the esterolysis of PAEs was mainly regulated by the cytoplasmic carboxylesterase (CarE) in earthworms, with a Michaelis constant (Km) of 0.416 mM in the catalysis of DBP. The stronger esterolysis in non-intestinal tissues indicated that the CarE was primarily secreted by non-intestinal tissues of earthworms. Additionally, the intestinal symbiotic bacteria of earthworms could respond to PAE stress, leading to the changes in their diversity and composition. The enrichment of some genera e.g. Bacillus and Paracoccus, and the enhancement of metabolism function, e.g. amino acids, energy, lipids biosynthesis and oxidase secretion, indicated their important role in the degradation of PAEs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiuli Fan
- CAS Key Laboratory of Soil Environment and Pollution Remediation, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, PR China; University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, PR China
| | - Chenggang Gu
- CAS Key Laboratory of Soil Environment and Pollution Remediation, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, PR China; University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, PR China.
| | - Zhihua Jin
- CAS Key Laboratory of Soil Environment and Pollution Remediation, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, PR China; University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, PR China
| | - Jun Cai
- CAS Key Laboratory of Soil Environment and Pollution Remediation, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, PR China; University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, PR China
| | - Yongrong Bian
- CAS Key Laboratory of Soil Environment and Pollution Remediation, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, PR China; University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, PR China
| | - Fang Wang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Soil Environment and Pollution Remediation, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, PR China; University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, PR China
| | - Hong Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Soil and Sustainable Agriculture, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, PR China
| | - Xin Jiang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Soil Environment and Pollution Remediation, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, PR China; University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, PR China
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Pescatore T, Di Nica V, Finizio A, Ademollo N, Spataro F, Rauseo J, Patrolecco L. Sub-lethal effects of soil multiple contamination on the avoidance behaviour of Eisenia fetida. ECOTOXICOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY 2021; 226:112861. [PMID: 34628156 DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2021.112861] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2021] [Revised: 08/25/2021] [Accepted: 09/30/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Natural ecosystems are frequently exposed to complex mixtures of different chemicals. However, the environmental risk assessment is mainly based on data from individual substances. In this study, the individual and combined effects on the terrestrial earthworm E. fetida exposed to the anionic surfactant sodium lauryl ether sulphate (SLES) and the pesticides chlorpyrifos (CPF) and imidacloprid (IMI) were investigated, by using the avoidance behaviour as endpoint. Earthworms were exposed to a soil artificially contaminated with five sub-lethal concentrations of each contaminant, both as single substances and in combination of binary and ternary mixtures. Overall results showed that IMI provoked the highest avoidance effect on earthworms, with a concentration value that induced an avoidance rate of 50% of treated organisms (AC50) of 1.30 mg/kg, followed by CPF (AC50 75.26 mg/kg) and SLES (AC50 139.67 mg/kg). The application of the Combination Index (CI) method, indicated that a deviation from the additive response occurred for most of the tested chemical mixtures, leading to synergistic or antagonistic avoidance responses. Synergistic effects were produced by the exposure to the two lowest concentrations of the CPF+IMI mixture, and by the highest concentrations of SLES+CPF and SLES+CPF+IMI mixtures. On the contrary, antagonistic effects were observed at the lowest concentrations of the binary mixtures containing the SLES and at almost all the tested concentrations of the SLES+CPF+IMI mixture (with the exception of the highest tested concentration). These results show that the avoidance test is suitable to assess the detrimental effects exerted on earthworms by chemical mixtures in soil ecosystems and the use of behavioural endpoints can increase the ecological significance of environmental risk assessment procedures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tanita Pescatore
- Institute of Polar Sciences - National Research Council (ISP-CNR), Rome, Italy; Department of Ecological and Biological Science (DEB-Tuscia University), Viterbo, Italy
| | - Valeria Di Nica
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Milano Bicocca, Milan, Italy.
| | - Antonio Finizio
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Milano Bicocca, Milan, Italy
| | - Nicoletta Ademollo
- Institute of Polar Sciences - National Research Council (ISP-CNR), Rome, Italy
| | - Francesca Spataro
- Institute of Polar Sciences - National Research Council (ISP-CNR), Rome, Italy
| | - Jasmin Rauseo
- Institute of Polar Sciences - National Research Council (ISP-CNR), Rome, Italy
| | - Luisa Patrolecco
- Institute of Polar Sciences - National Research Council (ISP-CNR), Rome, Italy
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Rolando L, Barra Caracciolo A, Grenni P, Mariani L, Rauseo J, Spataro F, Garbini GL, Visca A, Patrolecco L. Bioaugmentation With a Consortium of Bacterial Sodium Lauryl Ether Sulfate-Degraders for Remediation of Contaminated Soils. Front Microbiol 2021; 12:740118. [PMID: 34630365 PMCID: PMC8496451 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2021.740118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2021] [Accepted: 08/12/2021] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
The anionic surfactant sodium lauryl ether sulfate (SLES) is the main component of most commercial foaming agents (FAs) used in the excavation of highway and railway tunnels with Earth pressure balance-tunnel boring machines (EPB-TBMs). Several hundreds of millions of tons of spoil material, consisting of soil mixed with FAs, are produced worldwide, raising the issue of their handling and safe disposal. Reducing waste production and reusing by-products are the primary objectives of the “circular economy,” and in this context, the biodegradation of SLES becomes a key question in reclaiming excavated soils, especially at construction sites where SLES degradation on the spot is not possible because of lack of space for temporary spoil material storage. The aim of the present work was to apply a bacterial consortium (BC) of SLES degraders to spoil material excavated with an EPB-TBM and coming from a real construction site. For this purpose, the BC capability to accelerate SLES degradation was tested. Preliminary BC growth, degradation tests, and ecotoxicological evaluations were performed on a selected FA. Subsequently, a bioaugmentation experiment was conducted; and the microbial abundance, viability, and SLES concentrations in spoil material were evaluated over the experimental time (0.5, 3, 6, 24, 48, and 144 h). Moreover, the corresponding aqueous elutriates were extracted from all the soil samples and analyzed for SLES concentration and ecotoxicological evaluations with the bacterium Aliivibrio fischeri. The preliminary experiments showed the BC capability to grow under 14 different concentrations of the FA. The maximum BC growth rates and degradation efficiency (100%) were achieved with initial SLES concentrations of 125, 250, and 500 mg/L. The subsequent bioaugmentation of the spoil material with BC significantly (sixfold) improved the degradation time of SLES (DT50 1 day) compared with natural attenuation (DT50 6 days). In line with this result, neither SLES residues nor toxicity was recorded in the soil extracts showing the spoil material as a by-product promptly usable. The bioaugmentation with BC can be a very useful for cleaning spoil material produced in underground construction where its temporary storage (for SLES natural biodegradation) is not possible.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ludovica Rolando
- Water Research Institute, National Research Council, Monterotondo, Italy
| | | | - Paola Grenni
- Water Research Institute, National Research Council, Monterotondo, Italy
| | - Livia Mariani
- Water Research Institute, National Research Council, Monterotondo, Italy
| | - Jasmin Rauseo
- Institute of Polar Sciences, National Research Council, Monterotondo, Italy
| | - Francesca Spataro
- Institute of Polar Sciences, National Research Council, Monterotondo, Italy
| | - Gian Luigi Garbini
- Water Research Institute, National Research Council, Monterotondo, Italy.,Department of Ecological and Biological Sciences, Tuscia University, Viterbo, Italy
| | - Andrea Visca
- Water Research Institute, National Research Council, Monterotondo, Italy
| | - Luisa Patrolecco
- Institute of Polar Sciences, National Research Council, Monterotondo, Italy
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Salvatori E, Rauseo J, Patrolecco L, Barra Caracciolo A, Spataro F, Fusaro L, Manes F. Germination, root elongation, and photosynthetic performance of plants exposed to sodium lauryl ether sulfate (SLES): an emerging contaminant. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH INTERNATIONAL 2021; 28:27900-27913. [PMID: 33523379 PMCID: PMC8164587 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-021-12574-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/11/2020] [Accepted: 01/15/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
The anionic surfactant SLES (sodium lauryl ether sulfate) is an emerging contaminant, being the main component of foaming agents that are increasingly used by the tunnel construction industry. To fill the gap of knowledge about the potential SLES toxicity on plants, acute and chronic effects were assessed under controlled conditions. The acute ecotoxicological test was performed on Lepidum sativum L. (cress) and Zea mays L. (maize). Germination of both species was not affected by SLES in soil, even at concentrations (1200 mg kg-1) more than twice higher than the maximum realistic values found in contaminated debris, thus confirming the low acute SLES toxicity on terrestrial plants. The root elongation of the more sensitive species (cress) was instead reduced at the highest SLES concentration. In the chronic phytotoxicity experiment, photosynthesis of maize was downregulated, and the photosynthetic performance (PITOT) significantly reduced already under realistic exposures (360 mg kg-1), owing to the SLES ability to interfere with water and/or nutrients uptake by roots. However, such reduction was transient, likely due to the rapid biodegradation of the surfactant by the soil microbial community. Indeed, SLES amount decreased in soil more than 90% of the initial concentration in only 11 days. A significant reduction of the maximum photosynthetic capacity (Pnmax) was still evident at the end of the experiment, suggesting the persistence of negative SLES effects on plant growth and productivity. Overall results, although confirming the low phytotoxicity and high biodegradability of SLES in natural soils, highlight the importance of considering both acute and nonlethal stress effects to evaluate the environmental compatibility of soil containing SLES residues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elisabetta Salvatori
- Department of Environmental Biology, Sapienza University of Rome, Piazzale Aldo Moro, 5, 00185, Rome, Italy.
- ENEA, Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development, SSPT-STS, R.C. Casaccia, Via Anguillarese, 301 - 00123 S.Maria di Galeria, Rome, Italy.
| | - Jasmin Rauseo
- Institute of Polar Sciences - National Research Council (ISP-CNR), Via Salaria km 29.300, 00015 Monterotondo, Rome, Italy
| | - Luisa Patrolecco
- Institute of Polar Sciences - National Research Council (ISP-CNR), Via Salaria km 29.300, 00015 Monterotondo, Rome, Italy
| | - Anna Barra Caracciolo
- Water Research Institute - National Research Council (IRSA-CNR), Via Salaria km 29.300, 00015 Monterotondo, Rome, Italy
| | - Francesca Spataro
- Institute of Polar Sciences - National Research Council (ISP-CNR), Via Salaria km 29.300, 00015 Monterotondo, Rome, Italy
| | - Lina Fusaro
- Department of Environmental Biology, Sapienza University of Rome, Piazzale Aldo Moro, 5, 00185, Rome, Italy
| | - Fausto Manes
- Department of Environmental Biology, Sapienza University of Rome, Piazzale Aldo Moro, 5, 00185, Rome, Italy
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