Bacteria That Make a Meal of Sulfonamide Antibiotics: Blind Spots and Emerging Opportunities

Abstract

The release of sulfonamide antibiotics into the environment is alarming because the existence of these antibiotics in the environment may promote resistance in clinically relevant microorganisms, which is a potential threat to the effectiveness of antibiotic therapies. Controllable biodegradation processes are of particular significance for the inexpensive yet effective restoration of sulfonamide-contaminated environments. Cultivation-based techniques have already made great strides in successfully isolating bacteria with promising sulfonamide degradation abilities, but the implementation of these isolates in bioremediation has been limited by unknown microbial diversity, vast population responsiveness, and the impact of perturbations from open and complex environments. Advances in DNA sequencing technologies and metagenomic analyses are being used to complement the information derived from cultivation-based procedures. In this Review, we provide an overview of the growing understanding of isolated sulfonamide degraders and identify shortcomings of the prevalent literature in this field. In addition, we propose a technical paradigm that integrates experimental testing with metagenomic analysis to pave the way for improved understanding and exploitation of these ecologically important isolates. Overall, this Review aims to outline how metagenomic studies of isolated sulfonamide degraders are being applied for the advancement of bioremediation strategies for sulfonamide contamination.

Bacteriophages in water pollution control: Advantages and limitations

“…At present, antibacterial agents are still widely used in many areas to eliminate some microorganisms in wastewater. These agents not only harm some benign bacteria but also cause antibiotic resistance in some pathogenic bacteria (Deng et al, 2018). Therefore, antibacterial agents are becoming increasingly ineffective, and the wastewater treatment process employing them has an unpredictable impact (Mathieu et al, 2019).…”

Biodiversity, isolation and genome analysis of sulfamethazine-degrading bacteria using high-throughput analysis

“…Above all, the resistance to SM2 in YL1 was attributed to both folP and sul. But the ability of degradation of SM2 was mainly caused by the gene of sadA, the sole sulfonamide catabolism gene, which has been heterologously expressed and functionally validated in Escherichia coli host cells [34,52]. Paenarthrobacter ureafaciens YL1 has been found to share high genomic similarities with the draft genomes of Arthrobacter sp.…”

“…Sulfonamide catabolism by bacteria is thought to involve three factors: (1) chromosomal resistance resulting from mutations in the dihydropteroate synthase (DHPS) gene (folP) which can prevent sulfonamide from binding to DHPS; (2) the action of common resistance genes (sul) in tandem with sulfonamide catabolism genes; (3) the sole action of sulfonamide catabolism genes that provide resistance through degradation mechanisms [34]. All of the above genes were detected according to the genome of YL1.…”

Recent updates of fluoroquinolones as antibacterial agents

“…Also compounds 63 and 64 with chloro substitution also exhibited excellent antibacterial activity . More interestingly, the 2,4‐dimethoxybenzenesulfonylquinolone 61 exhibited excellent activities against all the tested strains, S. aureus ATCC 29213 (MIC; 0.000470 mmol/mL), B. subtilis ATCC 10400 (MIC; 0.000470 mmol/ mL), E. coli ATCC 25922 (MIC; 0.000470 mmol/mL), and P. aeruginosa ATCC 27853 (MIC; 0.000470 mmol/mL) that were more potent than the reference drug ciprofloxacin (MIC; 0.000758 mmol/mL) …”