Biodegradation of antibiotic ciprofloxacin: pathways, influential factors, and bacterial community structure

Abstract

Antibiotic ciprofloxacin is ubiquitous in the environment. However, little is known about ciprofloxacin dissipation by microbial community. The present study investigated the biodegradation potential of ciprofloxacin by mixed culture and the influential factors and depicted the structure of ciprofloxacin-degrading microbial community. Both the original microbiota from drinking water biofilter and the microbiota previously acclimated to high levels of ciprofloxacin could utilize ciprofloxacin as sole carbon and nitrogen sources, while the acclimated microbiota had a much stronger removal capacity. Temperature rise and the presence of carbon or nitrogen sources favored ciprofloxacin biodegradation. Many novel biotransformation products were identified, and four different metabolic pathways for ciprofloxacin were proposed. Bacterial community structure illustrated a profound shift with ciprofloxacin biodegradation. The ciprofloxacin-degrading bacterial community was mainly composed of classes Gammaproteobacteria, Bacteroidia, and Betaproteobacteria. Microorganisms from genera Pseudoxanthomonas, Stenotrophomonas, Phenylobacterium, and Leucobacter might have links with the dissipation of ciprofloxacin. This work can provide some new insights towards ciprofloxacin biodegradation.

Assessment of a Ficus benjamina wood chip‐based aerated biofilter used for the removal of metformin and ciprofloxacin during domestic wastewater treatment

“…This increase may indicate an inhibition of the nitrification process. However, during the biodegradation of metformin and ciprofloxacin, several amino groups were generated as by‐products (guanylurea and piperazine rings) that released nitrogen (as ammonia) to wastewater . For this reason, during the degradation of pharmaceuticals there was an increase in the concentration of NH 3 ‐N in the effluent of the aerated biofilter.…”

“…However, during the biodegradation of metformin and ciprofloxacin, several amino groups were generated as by-products (guanylurea and piperazine rings) that released nitrogen (as ammonia) to wastewater. 14,46,52 For this reason, during the degradation of pharmaceuticals there was an increase in the concentration of NH 3 -N in the effluent of the aerated biofilter. A certain amount of this nitrogen is transformed into nitrites, nitrates and nitrogen gas due to biological reactions that occur within the biofilm formed on the F. benjamina wood chips.…”

Municipal solid waste biochar-bentonite composite for the removal of antibiotic ciprofloxacin from aqueous media

“…The degradation pathways of CPX remains a question of debate as it does not get easily degraded except with a particular kind of bacteria (Labrys poetucalensis) (Amorim et al, 2014). Liao et al (2016) suggested that with the increase in temperature, the CPX degradation rapidly increases and the supplement of glucose or nitrogen could improve the degradation rate. However, such scenarios do not sound feasible in the open environmental conditions.…”

UPLC–MS/MS method validation of ciprofloxacin in human urine: Application to biodegradability study in microbial fuel cell

“…However, some recent studies have discussed the role of using mixed cultures in degradation (Dorival‐García, Zafra‐Gómez, Navalón, González, & Vílchez, ; Z. Liu, Sun, Pavlostathis, Zhou, & Zhang, ). Certain bacterial groups belonging to the class Proteobacteria have a role in achieving CIP degradation by using it as a carbon and nitrogen source (Liao et al, ). It has also been mentioned that an external source of organic matter holds the potential for better degradation of CIP owing to increased microbial biomass.…”