Removal of resistance genes and drug-resistant bacteria in excess sludge by Fenton process

doi:10.19965/j.cnki.iwt.2022-1172

Abstract

Abstract:

This study investigated the effect of Fenton treatment on removing antibiotic resistance genes（ARGs） and resistant bacteria（ARB） from excess activated sludge in the municipal wastewater treatment plant（WWTP） to understand the role of Fenton in reducing the risk of ARGs and ARB spread. Metagenomic sequencing was applied to investigate the alteration of ARGs，mobile genetic genes（MGEs） and microbial community structure in excess sludge before and after Fenton treatment. Moreover，ARB was also screened from Fenton-treated sludge based on five typical antibiotics，and then their pathogenicity was identified. The results demonstrated that Fenton treatment strongly reduced ARGs abundance，and the removal rate achieved 67.36%. ARGs with the highest removal rate included tetracenomycin，kausugamycin，quinolone and fosfomycin ARGs，which had a reduction of 1.12log，1.04log，0.78log and 0.69log，respectively. Moreover，there were still 9 ARB screened from Fenton-treated sludge. Among them，4 ARB belonged to Oligotrophic monocultures，which had been confirmed to be pathogenic，2 ARB were similar with Bacillus cereus and Bacillus anthracis，which might be two unknown pathogenic bacteria，although the rest 3 ARB were resistant to antibiotics，there was no evidence that they were pathogenic. It could be concluded that Fenton treatment could efficiently remove ARGs and ARB. However，several ARGs and ARB were still hardly removed. The unremoved ARGs and ARB might enter the environment along with the reuse of excess sludge，which might threaten human health.

Key words: Fenton treatment, wastewater treatment plant, excess sludge, antibiotic resistance genes, drug-resistant bacteria

摘要：

研究Fenton法对污水处理厂剩余污泥中抗生素抗性基因（ARGs）和耐药菌（ARB）的去除效果，以明确Fenton对于降低污泥ARGs和ARB传播风险的有效性。采用宏基因组测定Fenton处理前后污泥，分析ARGs、移动遗传元件（MGEs）和微生物群落结构的变化。此外，以5种常见抗生素为基础，从Fenton处理后的污泥中筛选出ARB并推测其致病性。结果表明，经Fenton处理后污泥中ARGs明显下降，总去除率达到了67.36%。其中，特曲霉素类、春日霉素类、喹诺酮类和磷霉素类ARGs的去除量最高，分别为1.12log、1.04log、0.78log和0.69log。另外，Fenton处理后污泥样品仍筛选出9株ARB，其中4株ARB与寡养单胞菌亲缘关系接近，具有致病性；2株ARB与蜡状芽孢杆菌、炭疽杆菌相似，可能为未知致病菌；剩余3株ARB虽具有抗性，但目前无证据显示其对人体致病。由此可知，Fenton处理可以有效去除污泥ARGs和ARB，但仍有部分ARGs和ARB难以去除，它们可能会随着污泥的资源化利用再次进入环境，对人类健康造成危害。

关键词: Fenton处理, 污水处理厂, 剩余污泥, 抗生素抗性基因, 耐药菌

CLC Number:

X703.1

Wen HONG, Yangzhou HE, Xinyu XIAO, Zimu WANG, Xin ZHAO, Ling LUO. Removal of resistance genes and drug-resistant bacteria in excess sludge by Fenton process[J]. Industrial Water Treatment, 2023, 43(11): 173-180.

洪雯, 何漾舟, 肖芯雨, 王子木, 赵鑫, 罗玲. Fenton法对剩余污泥中抗性基因及耐药菌的去除研究[J]. 工业水处理, 2023, 43(11): 173-180.

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URL: https://www.iwt.cn/EN/10.19965/j.cnki.iwt.2022-1172

https://www.iwt.cn/EN/Y2023/V43/I11/173

Figures/Tables 10

Table 1 Physicochemical properties of excess sludge

pH	含水率/%	有机质/%	P/%	N/%	C/%	H/%	S/%	MLSS/（mg·L^-1）	SVI
7.23	99.39	2.31	0.22	5.07	28.44	8.08	0.70	3 600	88.89

Table 2 Concentration and purity of DNA extracted from each sample

样品	DNA质量浓度/（ng·μL^-1）	OD₂₆₀/OD₂₈₀
WH	12.0	1.96
FH	8.46	1.89

Fig. 1 Absolute and relative abundances of ARGs before and after Fenton treatment

Fig. 2 ARGs increments after Fenton treatment

Fig. 3 Relative abundance changes of subtypes of ARGs in the samples before and after Fenton treatment

Fig. 4 MGEs abundance changes of the samples before and after Fenton treatment

Fig. 5 Relative abundance changes of subtypes of MGEs in the samples before and after Fenton treatment

Fig.6 Microbial community structure changes at the phylum level（a） and genus level（b） in the samples before and after Fenton treatment

Fig. 7 Morphological diagram of ARB

Fig. 8 Phylogenetic tree of ARB

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