Phage formulations and delivery strategies: Unleashing the potential against antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

Bacterial control promoted by bacteriophages (phages) is an attractive tool in the face of the antibiotic crisis triggered by the exacerbated use of these drugs. Despite the growing interest in using these viruses, some gaps still need answers, such as the protection and delivery of phages. Some limitation points involve the degradation of phage proteins by enzymes or inactivation in low-pH environments. In this review, a literature search using keywords related to the field of virus delivery formulations was done to understand the current scenario of using delivery techniques and phage formulations. A total of 2096 raw results were obtained, which resulted in 140 publications after refinement. These studies were analyzed for main application techniques and areas, keywords, and countries. Of the total, 57% of the publications occurred in the last five years, and the encapsulation technique was the most used among the articles analyzed. As excipient agents, lactose, trehalose, mannitol, PEG, and Leucine stand out. The development of phage formulations, protection approaches, their delivery routes, and the knowledge about the best application strategy enables the use of these organisms in several sectors. It can act as a powerful tool against antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

Bacteriophages in wastewater treatment: can they be an approach to optimize biological treatment processes?

In this paper, we explore the applications of bacteriophages and the advantages of using these viruses to control undesirable organisms in wastewater treatment plants. Based on this, this paper reviewed the literature on the subject by performing a bibliometric and scientometric analysis of articles published in peer-reviewed journals through 2021. We obtained 806 publications, of which 40% were published in the last 5 years, demonstrating an increase in interest in the subject. These articles analyzed, bacteriophages in treatment plants were strongly linked to bacteria such as Escherichia coli and related to disinfection, inactivation, sewage, and wastewater, in addition, biocontrol studies have gained prominence in recent years, particularly due to the resistance of microorganisms to antibiotics. Studies have shown that bacteriophages have great potential for application in treatment systems to control unwanted processes and act as valuable economic and environmental tools to improve the efficiency of various treatment technologies. Although these viruses have already been studied in various applications to optimize treatment plant processes, technology transfer remains a challenge due to the limitations of the technique-such as physicochemical factors related to the environment-and the complexity of biological systems. The research focusing on application strategies in conjunction with molecular biology techniques can expand this study area, enabling the discovery of new bacteriophages.

Key enzymes involved in anammox-based processes for wastewater treatment: An applied overview.

The anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) process has attracted significant attention as an economic, robustness, and sustainable method for the treatment of nitrogen (N)-rich wastewater. Anammox bacteria (AnAOB) coexist with other microorganisms, and particularly with ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and/or heterotrophic bacteria (HB), in symbiosis in favor of the substrate requirement (ammonium and nitrite) of the AnAOB being supplied by these other organisms. The dynamics of these microbial communities have a significant effect on the N-removal performance, but the corresponding metabolic pathways are still not fully understood. These processes involve many common metabolites that may act as key factors to control the symbiotic interactions between these organisms, to maximize N-removal efficiency from wastewater. Therefore, this work overviews the current state of knowledge about the metabolism of these microorganisms including key enzymes and intermediate metabolites and summarizes already reported experiences based on the employment of certain metabolites for the improvement of N-removal using anammox-based processes. PRACTITIONER POINTS: Approaches knowledge about the biochemistry and metabolic pathways involved in anammox-based processes. Some molecular tools can be used to determine enzymatic activity, serving as an optimization in nitrogen removal processes. Enzymatic evaluation allied to the physical-chemical and biomolecular analysis of the nitrogen removal processes expands the application in different effluents.

The potential of animal manure management pathways toward a circular economy: a bibliometric analysis.

Improper disposal of animal waste is responsible for several environmental problems, causing eutrophication of lakes and rivers, nutrient overload in the soil, and the spread of pathogenic organisms. Despite the potential to cause adverse ecological damage, animal waste can be a valuable source of resources if incorporated into a circular concept. In this sense, new approaches focused on recovery and reuse as substitutes for traditional processes based on removing contaminants in animal manure have gained attention from the scientific community. Based on this, the present work reviewed the literature on the subject, performing a bibliometric and scientometric analysis of articles published in peer-reviewed journals between 1991 and 2021. Of the articles analyzed, the main issues addressed were nitrogen and phosphorus recovery, energy generation, high-value-added products, and water reuse. The energy use of livestock waste stands out since it is characterized as a consolidated solution, unlike other routes still being developed, presenting the economic barrier as the main limiting factor. Analyzing the trend of technological development through the S curve, it was possible to verify that the circular economy in the management of animal waste will enter the maturation phase as of 2036 and decline in 2056, which demonstrates opportunities for the sector's development, where animal waste can be an economic agent, promoting a cleaner and more viable product for a sustainable future.