Evaluation of the Potential of Sewage Sludge Mycobiome to Degrade High Diclofenac and Bisphenol-A Concentrations

One of the most challenging environmental threats of the last two decades is the effects of emerging pollutants (EPs) such as pharmaceutical compounds or industrial additives. Diclofenac and bisphenol A have regularly been found in wastewater treatment plants, and in soils and water bodies because of their extensive usage and their recalcitrant nature. Due to the fact of this adversity, fungal communities play an important role in being able to safely degrade EPs. In this work, we obtained a sewage sludge sample to study both the culturable and non-culturable microorganisms through DNA extraction and massive sequencing using Illumina MiSeq techniques, with the goal of finding degraders adapted to polluted environments. Afterward, degradation experiments on diclofenac and bisphenol A were performed with the best fungal degraders. The analysis of bacterial diversity showed that Dethiosulfovibrionaceae, Comamonadaceae, and Isosphaeraceae were the most abundant families. A predominance of Ascomycota fungi in the culturable and non-culturable population was also detected. Species such as Talaromyces gossypii, Syncephalastrum monosporum, Aspergillus tabacinus, and Talaromyces verruculosus had remarkable degradation rates, up to 80% of diclofenac and bisphenol A was fully degraded. These results highlight the importance of characterizing autochthonous microorganisms and the possibility of selecting native fungal microorganisms to develop tailored biotransformation technologies for EPs.

Biodegradation of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid and 4-chlorophenol in contaminated soils by Pseudomonas fluorescens strain HH

Herbicides with 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4D) has been commonly used to control weeds and widely detected in environments. In this study, biodegradating activity of Pseudomonas fluorescens HH on 2,4D and 4-chlorophenol (4CP) in soil was carried out. The inoculation with Pseudomonas fluorescens HH in soils increased the degradation of 4CP and 2,4D by from 47.0% to 51.4% and from 38.4% to 47.4%, respectively, compared to the degradation by autochthonous microorganisms. Pseudomonas fluorescens HH could degrade well 2,4D and 4CP in various soils, but the most efficient chemical removal was observed when they were in the loamy soil. Moreover, the efficiency of chemical degradation was significantly affected by the moisture contents with the highest performance of degradation at 10 and 20% soil moisture. Also, the addition of nitrogen (N), phosphorous (P) and potassium (K) stimulated the dissipation rates. The determination of degradation pathway for 2,4D in Pseudomonas fluorescens HH indicated that 2,4-dichlorophenol (2,4DCP) and 4CP were formed as metabolites.