Performance and mechanism of tetracycline removal by the aerobic nitrate-reducing strain Pseudomonas sp. XS-18 with auto-aggregation.

The coexistence of multiple pollutants has become a distinctive feature of water pollution. However, there are a few strains that can remove nitrate and tetracycline (TC). Here, the efficiency of strain XS-18 in removing nitrate and TC was analyzed, and the mechanism of tolerance and removal of TC was investigated by infrared spectroscopy, three-dimensional fluorescence spectroscopy, and genome analysis. XS-18 could efficiently remove TC (0.40 mg·L-1·h-1) at pH 7.0-11.0 with auto-aggregation. TC was removed via extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) (55.90%) and cell surface (44.10%) adsorption. TC (10 mg/L) could stimulate XS-18 to secrete more polysaccharides and hydrophobic proteins to improve its auto-aggregation ability. The findings also confirmed that TC resistance genes were present. Furthermore, the bacterial flagellum, signal transduction of the chemotactic system and regulatory genes were shown to be related to the auto-aggregation of the strain. XS-18 has potential applications in the treatment of wastewater containing nitrate and TC.

Nitrate removal by alkali-resistant Pseudomonas sp. XS-18 under aerobic conditions: Performance and mechanism.

To improve poor nitrate removal by microorganisms under strong alkaline conditions, a new type of aerobic nitrification-reducing bacteria was isolated in this study. Using nitrogen balance and genome information, the capacity of Pseudomonas XS-18 to remove nitrate and the mechanism of alkali tolerance were analyzed. At pH 11.0, XS-18 could remove 12.17 mg N/(L·h) nitrate. At C/N ratios of 13.0 and 25 °C, nitrite and ammonia nitrogen were barely enriched. XS-18 could reduce nitrate through dissimilation and assimilation, and 21.74% and 77.39% of nitrate was converted into cellular components and organic nitrogen, respectively. Meanwhile, functional genes (nirBD, nasAB, gdhA, glnA, and gltBD) associated with nitrogen metabolism were determined. In addition, Na+/H+ antiporters (MnhACDEFG, PhaACDEFG, NhaCD and TrkAH) and a cell surface protein (SlpA) from the XS-18 genome, as well as compatible solutes that help stabilize intracellular pH, were also characterized. XS-18 possessed significant potential in alkaline wastewater treatment.

Tetracycline removal in granulation: Influence of extracellular polymers substances, structure, and metabolic function of microbial community.

Tetracycline is a potentially hazardous residual antibiotic detected in various sewages. High concentration (mg/L) of tetracycline is found in pharmaceutical/hospital wastewater and wastewater derived from livestock and poultry. So far, only antibiotics in µg/L level have been reported in granulation of aerobic sludge during wastewater treatment, but its effects in high concentration are rarely reported. In this study, the influence of tetracycline in high concentration (∼2 mg/L) on the formation of granular sludge, structure, and metabolic function of the microbial community during the granulation of aerobic sludge was investigated to improve the understanding of the aerobic granular sludge formation under high-level of tetracycline. The role of extracellular polymers substances (EPSs) derived from granular sludge in the granulation and tetracycline removal process was also investigated, showing that tetracycline improved the relative hydrophobicity, flocculability and protein/polysaccharide ratio of EPSs, accelerating the granulation of sludge. Succession of microbial communities occurred during the domestication of functional bacteria present in the sludge and was accompanied with regulation of metabolic function. The addition of tetracycline lead to an increase of tetracycline-degrading bacteria or antibiotic resistance genus. Those findings provide new perspectives of the influence of tetracycline on aerobic sludge granulation and the removal mechanism of tetracycline.

ZnCl2 modified biochar derived from aerobic granular sludge for developed microporosity and enhanced adsorption to tetracycline.

In this study, biochar derived from aerobic granular sludge was modified by ZnCl2 (Zn-BC) to improve the adsorption performance of tetracycline (TC). The surface area, pores, and functional groups of Zn-BC were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction (XRD) and the effects of initial pH, TC concentration, and temperature on TC adsorption performance were analyzed. At the same time, the adsorption kinetics, isotherms, thermodynamics and diffusion models were studied. The results showed that the BET surface area and micropore volume of Zn-BC were 852.41 m2·g-1 and 0.086 cm3·g-1, respectively. The maximum adsorption performance of TC was 93.44 mg·g-1, and it was less influenced by pH. The adsorption of TC on Zn-BC agreed well with the pseudo-second-order model and the Langmuir isotherm. The thermodynamic parameters indicated that the adsorption process was a spontaneously endothermic reaction.