Deciphering the coupling of anoxic/aerobic and sulfur autotrophic denitrification: Performance, antibiotic resistance genes, and microbial community structure
He Y. Wang Z. Luo C. Li X. Wang Z. Temirkhanov A. Nurbekova Z. Tan Z. Zhangazin S. Wang R. Chen Y.
February 2025Elsevier Ltd
Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering
2025#13Issue 1
The co-contamination of nitrogen and antibiotics has attracted widespread concerns due to its potential harm to ecological safety and human health. Although sulfur-based autotrophic denitrification (SAD) has efficient nitrate (NO3--N) removal performance, the fate of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) remains largely unexplored. This study provides a comprehensive analysis of the performance of conventional pollutant removal, the dynamics of ARGs, and the microbial community structure in a pilot-scale anoxic/aerobic-SAD (A/O-SAD) process over long-term operation for treating real domestic wastewater. The results indicate that the A/O-SAD process operates both stably and efficiently, with average removal efficiency for NH4+-N, TN, and COD reaching 98.21 %, 90.98 %, and 90.57 %, respectively. The SAD process effectively removes NO3--N, achieving an average removal efficiency of 78.32 %. In four operational stages, the absolute abundance of ARGs is reduced by 6.52–9.87 logs, while the relative abundance of ARGs exhibits an opposing variation pattern between the sulfur-filling biofilm and effluent within the SAD process. The sulfur autotrophic denitrifiers Thiobacillus, Sulfuricurvum, and Sulfurimonas are significantly enriched in the SAD process. A significant positive correlation is observed between these microbes and ARGs, suggesting that they may serve as potential hosts for ARGs. Overall, this study highlights the reliability of the pilot-scale A/O-SAD process for domestic wastewater treatment and provides new insights into removing traditional pollutants and ARGs in the SAD process.
A/O-SAD process , ARGs , Deep nitrogen removal , Domestic wastewater , Sulfur autotrophic denitrifiers
Text of the article Перейти на текст статьи
Environmental Science and Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu, 611756, China
CAS Key Laboratory of Environmental and Applied Microbiology, Environmental Microbiology Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Chengdu Institute of Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu, 610041, China
Republic Collection of Microorganisms, Astana, Kazakhstan
Department of Biotechnology and Microbiology, L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University, Astana, 010000, Kazakhstan
China MCC5 Group Corp. LTD, Sichuan, Chengdu, 610000, China
Environmental Science and Engineering
CAS Key Laboratory of Environmental and Applied Microbiology
Republic Collection of Microorganisms
Department of Biotechnology and Microbiology
China MCC5 Group Corp. LTD
10 лет помогаем публиковать статьи Международный издатель
Книга Публикация научной статьи Волощук 2026 Book Publication of a scientific article 2026