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Biodegradation of antibiotic ciprofloxacin: pathways, influential factors, and bacterial community structure

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Abstract

Antibiotic ciprofloxacin is ubiquitous in the environment. However, little is known about ciprofloxacin dissipation by microbial community. The present study investigated the biodegradation potential of ciprofloxacin by mixed culture and the influential factors and depicted the structure of ciprofloxacin-degrading microbial community. Both the original microbiota from drinking water biofilter and the microbiota previously acclimated to high levels of ciprofloxacin could utilize ciprofloxacin as sole carbon and nitrogen sources, while the acclimated microbiota had a much stronger removal capacity. Temperature rise and the presence of carbon or nitrogen sources favored ciprofloxacin biodegradation. Many novel biotransformation products were identified, and four different metabolic pathways for ciprofloxacin were proposed. Bacterial community structure illustrated a profound shift with ciprofloxacin biodegradation. The ciprofloxacin-degrading bacterial community was mainly composed of classes Gammaproteobacteria, Bacteroidia, and Betaproteobacteria. Microorganisms from genera Pseudoxanthomonas, Stenotrophomonas, Phenylobacterium, and Leucobacter might have links with the dissipation of ciprofloxacin. This work can provide some new insights towards ciprofloxacin biodegradation.

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Acknowledgments

This work was financially supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 51508209, 51178117), China Post-Doctoral Funding (No. 145723), Natural Science Foundation of Fujian province (No. 2015J05102), Scientific Research project for Young teachers supported by Education Department of Fujian Province (No. JA15033), the Science Research Foundation of Huaqiao University (No. 15BS105), and Key Project of International Cooperation of Science and Technology of Fujian (No. 2014I0013).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Municipal and Environmental Engineering, College of Civil Engineering, Huaqiao University, Xiamen, Fujian, 361021, People’s Republic of China

    Xiaobin Liao, Rusen Zou & Baoling Yuan

  2. State Key Joint Laboratory of Environmental Simulation and Pollution Control, College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China

    Bingxin Li, Yu Dai & Shuguang Xie

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  1. Xiaobin Liao
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  2. Bingxin Li
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  3. Rusen Zou
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  4. Yu Dai
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  5. Shuguang Xie
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Correspondence to Shuguang Xie or Baoling Yuan.

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Liao, X., Li, B., Zou, R. et al. Biodegradation of antibiotic ciprofloxacin: pathways, influential factors, and bacterial community structure. Environ Sci Pollut Res 23, 7911–7918 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-016-6054-1

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