Bacterial Community Structure Applied to Hormone Degradation
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 145, Issue 12
Abstract
The selection of a natural bacterial consortium from an activated sludge system and the verification of the capability of these organisms for hormone biodegradation are important to the wastewater treatment process. An enrichment aerobic reactor was seeded with activated sludge and synthetic wastewater with estrone, 17β-estradiol, and 17α-ethynylestradiol, and hormones were used as the sole external carbon sources. From 16S rRNA sequencing analyses, the entire structure of the bacterial community and the bacterial genera present in the system were identified. The enrichment, obtained from the supply of hormones in the system, made it possible to obtain a bacterial consortium able to perform the degradation of hormones. Aerobic bacteria were highly capable of degrading the natural hormones (24 h); synthetic hormone was degraded by 84.5% (34 days), and bacteria were selected in the presence of 17α-ethynylestradiol. The authors suggest that Emticicia, Nubsella, and Sphingobacterium, bacteria from the Bacteroidetes phylum, were responsible for 17α-ethynylestradiol biodegradation. Emticicia was first reported as being supposed to be a hormone-degrading bacterium.
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Data Availability Statement
Some or all data, models, or code generated or used during the study are available from the corresponding author by request (high-performance liquid chromatographic chromatograms for aqueous samples analysis; sequence values generated for each phylum or genus of bacteria).
Acknowledgments
This study was financially supported by Financier of Studies and Projects (FINEP, Brazil) and the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq). The assistance of Professor Patricio Peralta Zamora, Ph.D., from the Federal University of Paraná (Department of Chemistry) for the hormone analyses is gratefully acknowledged.
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Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 145 • Issue 12 • December 2019
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©2019 American Society of Civil Engineers.
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Received: Dec 1, 2018
Accepted: Apr 19, 2019
Published online: Oct 3, 2019
Published in print: Dec 1, 2019
Discussion open until: Mar 3, 2020
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