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Volume 167, Issue 4

Isolation and characterization of bacteria from activated sludge capable of degrading 17α-ethinylestradiol, a contaminant of high environmental concern Free

Abstract

The compound 17α-ethinylestradiol (EE2) is a synthetic oestrogen which is classified as a group 1 carcinogen by the World Health Organization. Together with other endocrine disruptor compounds, EE2 has been included in the surface water Watch List by the European Commission, since it causes severe adverse effects in ecosystems. Thus, it became a high priority to find or improve processes such as biodegradation of EE2 to completely remove this drug from the wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). The present study aimed at the isolation of bacteria capable of degrading EE2 using environmental samples, namely a sludge from the Faro Northwest WWTP. Four isolates with ability to grow in the presence of 50 mg l EE2 were obtained. The analysis of 16SrRNA gene sequences identified the isolated bacteria as and . The results of biodegradation assays showed that , , and were able to degrade 47±4 %, 55±3 %, 64±4% and 35±4 %, respectively of 13 mg l EE2 after 168 h at 28 °C. To the best of our knowledge, these bacterial isolates were identified as EE2 degraders for the first time. In a preliminary experiment on the identification of metabolic products resulting from EE2 degradation products such as estrone (E1), γ-lactone compounds, 2-pentanedioic acid and 2-butenedioic acid an intermediate metabolite of the TCA cycle, were detected.

  • Received:
  • Accepted:
  • Published Online:
Keyword(s): 17α-ethynylestradiol , bacteria , biodegradation , isolates and metabolites
Funding
This study was supported by the:
  • Erasmus+
    • Principle Award Recipient: AnastasiiaShylova
  • Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (Award SFRH/BD/95075/2013)
    • Principle Award Recipient: TâniaL Palma
  • Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (Award UIDB/04326/2020)
    • Principle Award Recipient: MariaClara Costa
© 2021 The Authors
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2021-04-19
2024-04-19
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Isolation and characterization of bacteria from activated sludge capable of degrading 17α-ethinylestradiol, a contaminant of high environmental concern
Microbiology 167, 001038 (2021); https://doi.org/10.1099/mic.0.001038
/content/journal/micro/10.1099/mic.0.001038
/content/journal/micro/10.1099/mic.0.001038
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