Sesuvium portulacastrum-Mediated Removal of Nitrogen and Phosphorus Affected by Sulfadiazine in Aquaculture Wastewater

Abstract

Plant-based removal of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) from water bodies is an important method for remediation of aquaculture wastewater. In order to acquire knowledge as to how antibiotic residues in wastewater might affect the microbial community and plant uptake of N and P, this study investigated N and P removal by a coastal plant Sesuvium portulacastrum L. grown in aquaculture wastewater treated with 0, 1, 5, or 50 mg/L sulfonamide antibiotics (sulfadiazine, SD) for 28 days and compared the microbial community structure between the water and rhizosphere. Results showed that SD significantly decreased N removal rates from 87.5% to 22.1% and total P removal rates from 99.6% to 85.5%. Plant fresh weights, root numbers, and moisture contents as well as activities of some enzymes in leaves were also reduced. SD changed the microbial community structure in water, but the microbial community structure in the rhizosphere was less affected by SD. The microbial diversity in water was higher than that in the rhizosphere, indicating microbial community differences. Our results showed that the commonly used antibiotic, SD, in aquaculture can inhibit plant growth, change the structure of microbial community, and reduce the capacity of S. portulacastrum plants to remove N and P from wastewater, and also raised alarm about detrimental effects of antibiotic residues in phytoremediation of wastewater.

Transcriptome analysis reveals molecular mechanisms underlying salt tolerance in halophyte Sesuvium portulacastrum

“…Sesuvium portulacastrum, as a mangrove companion plant, is a typical halophyte in the family Aizoaceae and usually grows on wet sand, such as beaches (Lonard and Judd, 1997;He et al, 2022;Zhang et al, 2022). Sesuvium portulacastrum plants are tolerant to salt, drought, and heavy metal stresses and widely used in phytoremediation projects including saltalkali soil restoration in coastal areas and coastal sand fixation (Lokhande et al, 2013).…”

Proteomic and metabolomic analyses uncover integrative mechanisms in Sesuvium portulacastrum tolerance to salt stress

“…As a halophyte, S. portulacastrum has been increasingly studied, including its morphological and physiological responses to salt stress ( Wang et al., 2012 ; Yi et al., 2014 ; Ding et al., 2022 ; He et al., 2022 ), leaf proteomic and metabolomic changes after exposure to salt, and molecular analysis of its tolerance mechanisms ( Wang D. et al., 2022 ). Additionally, S. portulacastrum has a remarkable capacity to abate environmental pollutants ( Zhang et al., 2022 ). When S. portulacastrum is used to remediate seawater contaminants, the roots come directly in contact with various pollutants.…”