Attenuation of antibiotics from simulated swine wastewater using different microalgae-based systems

Area of Science:

• Environmental Microbiology
• Biotechnology
• Ecotoxicology

Background:

• Antibiotic misuse poses significant environmental and human health risks.
• Wastewater treatment requires effective methods to remove persistent pharmaceutical pollutants.

Purpose of the Study:

• To construct and evaluate a novel microalgae-bacteria-fungus symbiont for antibiotic removal.
• To assess the growth, photosynthetic activity, and removal efficiency of the symbiont under varying antibiotic concentrations.

Main Methods:

• Construction of four algal symbionts using Chlorella vulgaris, an endophytic bacterium, and Clonostachys rosea.
• Analysis of symbiont growth, photosynthetic activity, and antibiotic removal efficiency.
• Testing under different initial concentrations of oxytetracycline, sulfadimethazine, and ciprofloxacin hydrochloride.

Main Results:

• The microalgae-bacteria-fungus symbiont demonstrated a maximum growth rate of 0.307 d⁻¹.
• Achieved high removal efficiencies: 99.35% for oxytetracycline, 81.06% for sulfadimethazine, and 79.15% for ciprofloxacin hydrochloride at 0.25 mg/L.
• Clonostachys rosea was innovatively utilized in symbiont construction for enhanced antibiotic wastewater treatment.

Conclusions:

• The developed algal symbiont is highly effective for treating antibiotic-contaminated wastewater.
• This research contributes to bioaugmentation strategies and the design of algal symbiont processes for pharmaceutical pollutant removal.
• The findings support sustainable environmental management by mitigating antibiotic pollution.