Abstract
Vermifiltration (VF) and a conventional biofilter (BF, no earthworm) were investigated by metagenomics to evaluate the removal rates of antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB), antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), and class 1 integron-integrase (intI1), as well as the impact mechanism in combination with the microbial community. According to the findings of qPCR and metagenomics, the VF facilitated greater removal rates of ARGs (78.83% ± 17.37%) and ARB (48.23% ± 2.69%) than the BF (56.33% ± 14.93%, 20.21% ± 6.27%). Compared to the control, the higher biological activity of the VF induced an increase of over 60% in the inhibitory effect of earthworm coelomic fluid on ARB. The removal rates of ARGs by earthworm guts also reached over 22%. In addition, earthworms enhanced the decomposition of refractory organics, toxic, and harmful organics, which led to a lower selective pressure on ARGs and ARB. It provides a strategy for reducing resistant pollution in sewage treatment plants and recognizing the harmless stability of sludge.
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The authors wish to thank all of our laboratory colleagues for their constructive advices and help.
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This work was supported by Tongji University’s “Double Leaders” academic ability improvement plan (grant numbers 0400219423) and Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality (grant numbers 19DZ1204304).
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Ran Zhao: data curation, writing—original draft.
Gege Yang: conceptualization, methodology, software.
Zhan Li: visualization, investigation.
Yuzhu Sun and Zitao Xue: supervision.
Meiyan Xing: writing—reviewing and editing.
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Our study revealed that VF could remove ARGs and ARB effectively thanks for the inhibitory effect of earthworm coelomic fluid and gut. However, we have no idea about the specific components and functions of coelomic fluid and gut.
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Xing, M., Zhao, R., Yang, G. et al. Elimination of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and resistance genes by earthworms during vermifiltration treatment of excess sludge. Environ Sci Pollut Res 31, 7853–7871 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-31287-w
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-31287-w