Inhibitory effects of the macrolide antimicrobial tylosin on anaerobic treatment

A laboratory-scale anaerobic sequencing batch reactor (ASBR) was operated using a glucose-based synthetic wastewater to study the effects of tylosin, a macrolide antimicrobial commonly used in swine production, on treatment performance. The experimental period was divided into three consecutive phases with different influent tylosin concentrations (0, 1.67, and 167 mg/L). The addition of 1.67 mg/L tylosin to the reactor had negligible effects on the overall treatment performance, that is, total methane production and effluent chemical oxygen demand did not change significantly (P < 0.05), yet analyses of individual ASBR cycles revealed a decrease in the rates of both methane production and propionate uptake after tylosin was added. The addition of 167 mg/L tylosin to the reactor resulted in a gradual decrease in methane production and the accumulation of propionate and acetate. Subsequent inhibition of methanogenesis was attributed to a decrease in the pH of the reactor. After the addition of 167 mg/L tylosin to the reactor, an initial decrease in the rate of glucose uptake during the ASBR cycle followed by a gradual recovery was observed. In batch tests, the specific biogas production with the substrate butyrate was completely inhibited in the presence of tylosin. This study indicated that tylosin inhibited propionate- and butyrate-oxidizing syntrophic bacteria and fermenting bacteria resulting in unfavorable effects on methanogenesis.