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Effect of Stepwise Exposure to High-Level Erythromycin on Anaerobic Digestion
Yanxiang Zhang1, Chunxing Li2, Xinyu Zhu3
1School of Environmental and Material Engineering, Yantai University, Yantai 264005, China.
Molecules (Basel, Switzerland)
|August 10, 2024
Summary
Anaerobic digestion effectively removes erythromycin (ERY) from wastewater, adapting to high concentrations. While initial ERY exposure increases antibiotic resistance genes, subsequent exposure reduces their abundance, offering a viable treatment strategy.
Area of Science:
- Environmental microbiology
- Wastewater treatment technologies
- Antibiotic resistance studies
Background:
- High-level erythromycin (ERY) wastewater poses ecological risks.
- Anaerobic digestion (AD) is a promising method for treating antibiotic-laden wastewater.
- The impact of ERY on antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and microbial communities in AD is not well understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the adaptability and efficiency of anaerobic digestion (AD) in treating high-level erythromycin (ERY) wastewater.
- To analyze the fate of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and microbial community shifts under stepwise ERY exposure.
- To understand the effect of ERY on methane production pathways in AD.
Main Methods:
- Stepwise exposure of an AD reactor to increasing concentrations of ERY (0–500 mg/L).
- Monitoring of ERY removal efficiency and methane (CH4) production.
- Quantification of dominant ARGs (ermB, mefA) and analysis of microbial community structure.
- Assessment of methanogenesis pathways (acetoclastic vs. hydrogenotrophic).
Main Results:
- AD demonstrated adaptability to high ERY concentrations (500 mg/L) and maintained efficient CH4 production after initial low-level ERY exposure.
- High ERY removal efficiency (>94%) was achieved irrespective of initial ERY concentration.
- Initial ERY exposure increased total ARG abundance, but re-exposure led to a decrease in ARG maintenance.
- ERY inhibited acetoclastic methanogenesis while enhancing hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis.
Conclusions:
- Anaerobic digestion can be effectively adapted to treat high-level erythromycin fermentation wastewater.
- The AD process significantly removes ERY and influences ARG dynamics, potentially reducing their proliferation.
- ERY alters microbial metabolism by favoring hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis over acetoclastic methanogenesis.
Keywords:
anaerobic digestionantibiotic resistance geneserythromycinhigh-level antibioticmicrobial communityMore Related Videos
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