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The impact of different voltage application modes on biodegradation of chloramphenicol and shift of microbial community structure

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Abstract

Exoelectrogenic biofilms have received considerable attention for their ability to enhance electron transfer between contaminants and electrodes in bioelectrochemical systems. In this study, we constructed anaerobic-aerobic-coupled upflow bioelectrochemical reactors (AO-UBERs) with different voltage application modes, voltages and hydraulic retention times (HRTs). In addition, we evaluated their capacity to remove chloramphenicol (CAP). AO-UBER can effectively mineralize CAP and its metabolites through electrical stimulation when an appropriate voltage is applied. The CAP removal efficiencies were ∼81.1%±6.1% (intermittent voltage application mode) and 75.2%±4.6% (continuous voltage application mode) under 0.5 V supply voltage, which were ∼21.5% and 15.6% greater than those in the control system without voltage applied, respectively. The removal efficiency is mainly attributed to the anaerobic chamber. High-throughput sequencing combined with catabolic pathway analysis indicated that electrical stimulation selectively enriched Megasphaera, Janthinobacterium, Pseudomonas, Emticicia, Zoogloea, Cloacibacterium and Cetobacterium, which are capable of denitrification, dechlorination and benzene ring cleavage, respectively. This study shows that under the intermittent voltage application mode, AO-UBERs are highly promising for treating antibiotic-contaminated wastewater.

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Acknowledgements

We gratefully acknowledged financial support provided by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51968067), the Natural Science Foundation of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China (No. 2018D01C044), the State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse Foundation (China) (No. PCRRF19013) and the Student Research Training Project of XJU (China) (No. 201910755063).

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Author notes

  1. These authors contributed to the work equally and should be regarded as co-first authors.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Oasis Ecology of Education Ministry, College of Ecology and Environment, Xinjiang University, Urumqi, 830017, China

    Yifan Liu, Qiongfang Zhang, Nuerla Ailijiang, Guangxiao Zhang, Miao Pu, Wenhu Cheng & Zhengtao Pang

  2. Xinjiang Jinghe Observation and Research Station of Temperate Desert Ecosystem, Ministry of Education, Urumqi, 830017, China

    Yifan Liu, Qiongfang Zhang, Nuerla Ailijiang, Guangxiao Zhang, Miao Pu, Wenhu Cheng & Zhengtao Pang

  3. School of Geographical Sciences, Xinjiang University, Urumqi, 830017, China

    Ainiwaer Sidike

  4. School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Xinjiang University, Urumqi, 830017, China

    Anwar Mamat

Authors
  1. Yifan Liu
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  2. Qiongfang Zhang
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  3. Ainiwaer Sidike
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  4. Nuerla Ailijiang
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  6. Guangxiao Zhang
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  7. Miao Pu
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  8. Wenhu Cheng
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Contributions

Yifan Liu: Conducting investigations, formulating methodology, conducting experiments, data collation and analysis, and writing the original draft. Qiongfang Zhang: Conducting experiments, data collation, analysis, writing, review, and editing. Nuerla Ailijiang: Conducting investigations, supervision, conceptualization, writing, review, editing, and formal analysis. Ainiwaer Sidike: Assisted with the experiments. Anwar Mamat: Conducted investigation, assistancd with sampling, and provided experimental guidance. Guangxiao Zhang: Assisted with the experiments. Miao Pu: Assisted with the experiments. Wenhu Cheng: Assisted with sample collection. Zhengtao Pang assisted with the experiments.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nuerla Ailijiang.

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Conflicts of interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Highlights

• Presented coupled system enhanced biodegradation of antibiotic chloramphenicol.

• HRT and electrical stimulation modes were key influencing factors.

• Electrical stimulation had little effect on the chloramphenicol metabolic pathway.

• Microbial community structure varied with the voltage application mode.

Supporting information

11783_2022_1576_MOESM1_ESM.pdf

The impact of different voltage application modes on biodegradation of chloramphenicol and shift of microbial community structure

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Liu, Y., Zhang, Q., Sidike, A. et al. The impact of different voltage application modes on biodegradation of chloramphenicol and shift of microbial community structure. Front. Environ. Sci. Eng. 16, 141 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-022-1576-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-022-1576-x

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