Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Intermediate Levels of Predation and Nutrient Enrichment Enhance the Activity of Ibuprofen-Degrading Bacteria

  • Note
  • Published:
Microbial Ecology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

    We’re sorry, something doesn't seem to be working properly.

    Please try refreshing the page. If that doesn't work, please contact support so we can address the problem.

An Author Correction to this article was published on 16 November 2022

This article has been updated

Abstract

Water is the most indispensable natural resource; yet, organic pollution of freshwater sources is widespread. In recent years, there has been increasing concern over the vast array of emerging organic contaminants (EOCs) in the effluent of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). Several of these EOCs are degraded within the pore space of riverbeds by active microbial consortia. However, the mechanisms behind this ecosystem service are largely unknown. Here, we report how phosphate concentration and predator–prey interactions drive the capacity of bacteria to process a model EOC (ibuprofen). The presence of phosphate had a significant positive effect on the population growth rate of an ibuprofen-degrading strain. Thus, when phosphate was present, ibuprofen removal efficiency increased. Moreover, low and medium levels of predation, by a ciliated protozoan, stimulated bacterial population growth. This unimodal effect of predation was lost under high phosphate concentration, resulting in the flattening of the relationships between predator density and population growth of ibuprofen degraders. Our results suggest that moderate nutrient and predation levels promote the growth rate of bacterial degraders and, consequently, the self-purifying capability of the system. These findings enhance our understanding of the mechanisms by which riverbed communities drive the processing of EOCs.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Change history

References

  1. Schwarzenbach RP et al (2006) The challenge of micropollutants in aquatic systems. Science 313:1072–1077

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Evgenidou EN et al (2015) Occurrence and removal of transformation products of PPCPs and illicit drugs in wastewaters: a review. Sci Total Environ 505:905–926

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Stamm C et al (2016) Unravelling the impacts of micropollutants in aquatic ecosystems: interdisciplinary studies at the interface of large-scale ecology. Adv Ecol Res 55:183–223

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Pal A et al (2010) Impacts of emerging organic contaminants on freshwater resources: review of recent occurrences, sources, fate and effects. Sci Total Environ 408:6062–6069

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Ellepola N et al (2020) A toxicological study on photo-degradation products of environmental ibuprofen: ecological and human health implications. Ecotoxicol Environ Saf 188:109892

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Peralta-Maraver I et al (2018) Interplay of hydrology, community ecology and pollutant attenuation in the hyporheic zone. Sci Total Environ 610:267–275

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Battin TJ et al (2016) The ecology and biogeochemistry of stream biofilms. Nat Rev Microbiol 14:251–263

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Rutere C et al (2020) Ibuprofen degradation and associated bacterial communities in hyporheic zone sediments. Microorganisms 8:1245

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  9. Rutere C et al (2020) Fate of trace organic compounds in hyporheic zone sediments of contrasting organic carbon content and impact on the microbiome. Water 12:3518

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Weitere M et al (2018) The food web perspective on aquatic biofilms. Ecol Monogr 88:543–559

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Peralta-Maraver I et al (2021) The riverine bioreactor: an integrative perspective on biological decomposition of organic matter across riverine habitats. Sci Total Environ 772:145494

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Cox HH, Deshusses MA (1999) Biomass control in waste air biotrickling filters by protozoan predation. Biotechnol Bioeng 62:216–224

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Ratsak CH et al (1996) Effects of protozoa on carbon mineralization in activated sludge. Water Res 30:1–12

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Jousset A (2012) Ecological and evolutive implications of bacterial defences against predators. Environ Microbiol 14:1830–1843

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Fenchel T (1986) Protozoan filter feeding. Prog Protistol 1:65–113

    Google Scholar 

  16. Fenchel T (1987) The ecology of protozoa. Springer-Verlag, Berlin

    Book  Google Scholar 

  17. Montagnes DJ et al (2008) Selective feeding behaviour of key free-living protists: avenues for continued study. Aquat Microb Ecol 53(1):83–98

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Pernthaler J (2005) Predation on prokaryotes in the water column and its ecological implications. Nat Reviews 3:537–543

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Fenchel T, Harrison P (1976) In: Anderson JM, McFadyen A (eds) The role of terrestrial and aquatic organisms in decomposition processes. Black- well, Oxford, pp 285–299

  20. Otto S et al (2017) Effects of predation and dispersal on bacterial abundance and contaminant biodegradation. FEMS Microbiol Ecol 93:fiw241

  21. Johannes RE (1965) Influence of marine protozoa on nutrient regeneration. Limnol Oceanogr 10:434–442

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Strom SL (2000) Microbial ecology of the oceans. In: Kirchman DL (ed). Wiley, New York, pp 351 386

  23. Thingstad TF, Lignell R (1997) Theoretical models for the control of bacterial growth rate, abundance, diversity and carbon demand. Aquat Microb Ecol 13:19–27

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Barabás G et al (2017) Self-regulation and the stability of large ecological networks. Nat Ecol Evol 1:1870–1875

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Soliveres S (2016) Biodiversity at multiple trophic levels is needed for ecosystem multifunctionality. Nature 536:456–459

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors thank the two anonymous reviewers who provided constructive comments on the first version of this manuscript. Also, the authors would like to express their gratitude to Dr. Katarina Fussmann for her support during the laboratory activities.

Funding

This project was funded by the European Union Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 641939.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Ignacio Peralta-Maraver & Isabel Reche

    Present address: Departamento de Ecología e Intituto del Agua, Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Life and Health Sciences, University of Roehampton, London, UK

    Ignacio Peralta-Maraver, Volker Behrends, Julia Reiss & Anne L. Robertson

  2. Research Unit Modeling Nature, Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain

    Ignacio Peralta-Maraver & Isabel Reche

  3. Department of Ecological Microbiology, University of Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany

    Cyrus Rutere & Marcus A. Horn

  4. Institute of Microbiology, Leibniz Universität Hannover, Hanover, Germany

    Marcus A. Horn

Authors
  1. Ignacio Peralta-Maraver
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Cyrus Rutere
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Marcus A. Horn
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Isabel Reche
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Volker Behrends
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Julia Reiss
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Anne L. Robertson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

IP-M, ALR, JR, and IR conceived this study and designed the experiments. CR and MAH carried out the isolation and preparation of the bacterial strain used in the experiments and provided microbiological advice. IP-M carried out the experimental set up; IP-M and VB collected the data. IP-M analyzed the data. Finally, IP-M wrote the manuscript, with significant contributions from all the authors.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ignacio Peralta-Maraver.

Ethics declarations

Competing Interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Additional information

The original online version of this article was revised: Coding in R, units in the x-axis of figure 1c and d were wrongly written. Furthermore, panels c and d in the figure 1 were inverted and consequently.

Supplementary Information

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Peralta-Maraver, I., Rutere, C., Horn, M.A. et al. Intermediate Levels of Predation and Nutrient Enrichment Enhance the Activity of Ibuprofen-Degrading Bacteria. Microb Ecol 86, 1438–1441 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-022-02109-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-022-02109-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation