Decontamination of Domestic Wastewater through “Geopurification”

1992 ◽  
Vol 25 (12) ◽  
pp. 225-237
Author(s):  
O. Iung ◽  
Z. Alamy ◽  
B. Baleux

The aim of the article is to explain the mechanisms responsible for eliminating pathogenic bacteria through “Geopurification”. Bacteriological tracing at the “Geopurification” plant of Orléans la Source showed that percolation through a 1.50 m thick filter bed of building sand resulted in a reduction by 2 to 4 logarithmic units of the health-related bacterial colonies doping the effluent: Eschericha coli O126B16, Serratia marcescens, Salmonella typhirium and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Laboratory experiments carried out on “microcosms” revealed the kinetics of bacterial elimination and showed that the stress due to competition with an autochthonous flora making up the biofilm was responsible for more than 90% of the observed reduction of health-related bacteria. These conclusions enable recommendations to be put forward for optimizing the reduction in health-related bacteria so as, for example, to protect the littoral environment against effluents of domestic wastewater.

2004 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 147-154 ◽  
Author(s):  
W.A.M. Hijnen ◽  
J.F. Schijven ◽  
P. Bonné ◽  
A. Visser ◽  
G.J. Medema

The decimal elimination capacity (DEC) of slow sand filters (SSF) for viruses, bacteria and oocysts of Cryptosporidium has been assessed from full-scale data and pilot plant and laboratory experiments. DEC for viruses calculated from experimental data with MS2-bacteriophages in the pilot plant filters was 1.5-2 log10. E. coli and thermotolerant coliforms (Coli44) were removed at full-scale and in the pilot plant with 2-3 log10. At full-scale, Campylobacter bacteria removal was 1 log10 more than removal of Coli44, which indicated that Coli44 was a conservative surrogate for these pathogenic bacteria. Laboratory experiments with sand columns showed 2-3 and >5-6 log10 removal of spiked spores of sulphite-reducing clostridia (SSRC; C. perfringens) and oocysts of Cryptosporidium respectively. Consequently, SSRC was not a good surrogate to quantify oocyst removal by SSF. Removal of indigenous SSRC by full-scale filters was less efficient than observed in the laboratory columns, probably due to continuous loading of these filter beds with spores, accumulation and retarded transport. It remains to be investigated if this also applies to oocyst removal by SSF. The results additionally showed that the schmutzdecke and accumulation of (in)organic charged compounds in the sand increased the elimination of microorganisms. Removal of the schmutzdecke reduced DEC for bacteria by ±2 log10, but did not affect removal of phages. This clearly indicated that, besides biological activity, both straining and adsorption were important removal mechanisms in the filter bed for microorganisms larger than viruses.


1995 ◽  
Vol 31 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 75-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Würzer ◽  
A. Wiedenmann ◽  
K. Botzenhart

In Germany the application of procedures such as flocculation and filtration in the preparation of drinking water results in the annual production of an estimated 500,000 t of sediments and sludges. Some of these residues have a potential for being reused, for example in agriculture, forestry, brickworks or waste water treatment. To assess the microbiological quality of residues from waterworks methods for the detection of enterobacteria, Escherichia coli, Salmonella, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Legionella, poliovirus, Ascaris suis eggs and Cryptosporidium have been evaluated regarding their detection limits and were applied to various residues from German waterworks. Results show that sediments and sludges may contain pathogenic bacteria, viruses and protista. When residues from waterworks are intended to be reused in agriculture or forestry the microbiological quality should therefore be considered.


Molecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (6) ◽  
pp. 1620
Author(s):  
Victor Markus ◽  
Karina Golberg ◽  
Kerem Teralı ◽  
Nazmi Ozer ◽  
Esti Kramarsky-Winter ◽  
...  

Quorum sensing (QS), a sophisticated system of bacterial communication that depends on population density, is employed by many pathogenic bacteria to regulate virulence. In view of the current reality of antibiotic resistance, it is expected that interfering with QS can address bacterial pathogenicity without stimulating the incidence of resistance. Thus, harnessing QS inhibitors has been considered a promising approach to overriding bacterial infections and combating antibiotic resistance that has become a major threat to public healthcare around the globe. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is one of the most frequent multidrug-resistant bacteria that utilize QS to control virulence. Many natural compounds, including furanones, have demonstrated strong inhibitory effects on several pathogens via blocking or attenuating QS. While the natural furanones show no activity against P. aeruginosa, furanone C-30, a brominated derivative of natural furanone compounds, has been reported to be a potent inhibitor of the QS system of the notorious opportunistic pathogen. In the present study, we assess the molecular targets and mode of action of furanone C-30 on P. aeruginosa QS system. Our results suggest that furanone C-30 binds to LasR at the ligand-binding site but fails to establish interactions with the residues crucial for the protein’s productive conformational changes and folding, thus rendering the protein dysfunctional. We also show that furanone C-30 inhibits RhlR, independent of LasR, suggesting a complex mechanism for the agent beyond what is known to date.


2020 ◽  
Vol 367 (22) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris Coward ◽  
Gopujara Dharmalingham ◽  
Omar Abdulle ◽  
Tim Avis ◽  
Stephan Beisken ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT The use of bacterial transposon mutant libraries in phenotypic screens is a well-established technique for determining which genes are essential or advantageous for growth in conditions of interest. Standard, inactivating, transposon libraries cannot give direct information about genes whose over-expression gives a selective advantage. We report the development of a system wherein outward-oriented promoters are included in mini-transposons, generation of transposon mutant libraries in Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa and their use to probe genes important for growth under selection with the antimicrobial fosfomycin, and a recently-developed leucyl-tRNA synthase inhibitor. In addition to the identification of known mechanisms of action and resistance, we identify the carbon–phosphorous lyase complex as a potential resistance liability for fosfomycin in E. coli and P. aeruginosa. The use of this technology can facilitate the development of novel mechanism-of-action antimicrobials that are urgently required to combat the increasing threat worldwide from antimicrobial-resistant pathogenic bacteria.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 2050
Author(s):  
Lukas Hofmann ◽  
Melanie Hirsch ◽  
Sharon Ruthstein

Thirty-five thousand people die as a result of more than 2.8 million antibiotic-resistant infections in the United States of America per year. Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) is classified a serious threat, the second-highest threat category of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Among others, the World Health Organization (WHO) encourages the discovery and development of novel antibiotic classes with new targets and mechanisms of action without cross-resistance to existing classes. To find potential new target sites in pathogenic bacteria, such as P. aeruginosa, it is inevitable to fully understand the molecular mechanism of homeostasis, metabolism, regulation, growth, and resistances thereof. P. aeruginosa maintains a sophisticated copper defense cascade comprising three stages, resembling those of public safety organizations. These stages include copper scavenging, first responder, and second responder. Similar mechanisms are found in numerous pathogens. Here we compare the copper-dependent transcription regulators cueR and copRS of Escherichia coli (E. coli) and P. aeruginosa. Further, phylogenetic analysis and structural modelling of mexPQ-opmE reveal that this efflux pump is unlikely to be involved in the copper export of P. aeruginosa. Altogether, we present current understandings of the copper homeostasis in P. aeruginosa and potential new target sites for antimicrobial agents or a combinatorial drug regimen in the fight against multidrug resistant pathogens.


2005 ◽  
Vol 187 (2) ◽  
pp. 554-566 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lauren M. Mashburn ◽  
Amy M. Jett ◽  
Darrin R. Akins ◽  
Marvin Whiteley

ABSTRACT Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a gram-negative opportunistic human pathogen often infecting the lungs of individuals with the heritable disease cystic fibrosis and the peritoneum of individuals undergoing continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis. Often these infections are not caused by colonization with P. aeruginosa alone but instead by a consortium of pathogenic bacteria. Little is known about growth and persistence of P. aeruginosa in vivo, and less is known about the impact of coinfecting bacteria on P. aeruginosa pathogenesis and physiology. In this study, a rat dialysis membrane peritoneal model was used to evaluate the in vivo transcriptome of P. aeruginosa in monoculture and in coculture with Staphylococcus aureus. Monoculture results indicate that approximately 5% of all P. aeruginosa genes are differentially regulated during growth in vivo compared to in vitro controls. Included in this analysis are genes important for iron acquisition and growth in low-oxygen environments. The presence of S. aureus caused decreased transcription of P. aeruginosa iron-regulated genes during in vivo coculture, indicating that the presence of S. aureus increases usable iron for P. aeruginosa in this environment. We propose a model where P. aeruginosa lyses S. aureus and uses released iron for growth in low-iron environments.


2014 ◽  
Vol 58 (9) ◽  
pp. 5297-5305 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tiffany R. Keepers ◽  
Marcela Gomez ◽  
Chris Celeri ◽  
Wright W. Nichols ◽  
Kevin M. Krause

ABSTRACTAvibactam, a non-β-lactam β-lactamase inhibitor with activity against extended-spectrum β-lactamases (ESBLs), KPC, AmpC, and some OXA enzymes, extends the antibacterial activity of ceftazidime against most ceftazidime-resistant organisms producing these enzymes. In this study, the bactericidal activity of ceftazidime-avibactam against 18Pseudomonas aeruginosaisolates and 15Enterobacteriaceaeisolates, including wild-type isolates and ESBL, KPC, and/or AmpC producers, was evaluated. Ceftazidime-avibactam MICs (0.016 to 32 μg/ml) were lower than those for ceftazidime alone (0.06 to ≥256 μg/ml) against all isolates except for 2P. aeruginosaisolates (1blaVIM-positive isolate and 1blaOXA-23-positive isolate). The minimum bactericidal concentration/MIC ratios of ceftazidime-avibactam were ≤4 for all isolates, indicating bactericidal activity. Human serum and human serum albumin had a minimal effect on ceftazidime-avibactam MICs. Ceftazidime-avibactam time-kill kinetics were evaluated at low MIC multiples and showed time-dependent reductions in the number of CFU/ml from 0 to 6 h for all strains tested. A ≥3-log10decrease in the number of CFU/ml was observed at 6 h for allEnterobacteriaceae, and a 2-log10reduction in the number of CFU/ml was observed at 6 h for 3 of the 6P. aeruginosaisolates. Regrowth was noted at 24 h for some of the isolates tested in time-kill assays. These data demonstrate the potent bactericidal activity of ceftazidime-avibactam and support the continued clinical development of ceftazidime-avibactam as a new treatment option for infections caused byEnterobacteriaceaeandP. aeruginosa, including isolates resistant to ceftazidime by mechanisms dependent on avibactam-sensitive β-lactamases.


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