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Updated: Aug 6, 2026

A Novel Bioreactor for High Density Cultivation of Diverse Microbial Communities
Published on: December 25, 2015
Tubifex tubifex reduces antibiotic stress on nitrogen removal in constructed wetlands by reshaping microbial networks
Jiqiang Yang1, Yani Zhang2, Kees Jan van Groenigen3
1Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Crop Genetics and Physiology/Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Crop Cultivation and Physiology/Jiangsu Co-Innovation Centre for Modern Production Technology of Grain Crops, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, China; College of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, China.
Abstract:
Microbes are essential for nitrogen (N) removal in constructed wetlands (CWs) but are often disrupted by antibiotics in wastewater. Tubifex tubifex has been shown to be an effective biological method to mitigate antibiotic stress on N removal; however, the underlying microbial mechanisms remain unclear. This study investigated T. tubifex-mediated microbial interactions that enhance N removal in saturated vertical-flow constructed wetlands (VF-CWs) under antibiotic stress. The results indicated that T. tubifex reduced NH₄⁺-N and NOₓ⁻-N in water by 16 % and 47 %, respectively, compared to the antibiotic treatment. T. tubifex improved dissolved oxygen levels and reduced N accumulation in sediments under antibiotic stress. Dominant bacterial (Burkholderiales, Bacteroidota, Flavobacterium) and fungal taxa (Sordariomycetes, Plectosphaerellaceae) associated with N cycling and pollutant degradation increased with T. tubifex presence. Bacteria-fungi co-occurrence network analysis showed that under antibiotic stress, T. tubifex increased the number of edges and the proportion of positive links by 275 % and 48 %, respectively. Partial Least Squares Path Modeling (PLS-PM) revealed that antibiotics had a strong negative effect on N removal by reducing bacterial diversity, while T. tubifex exerted a substantial positive influence. Together, our results suggest that T. tubifex mitigates antibiotic stress by reshaping microbial networks and enhancing N removal in saturated VF-CWs.
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