Magnetotactic bacteria: Characteristics and environmental applications

• Magnetotactic bacteria (MTB) synthesize magnetic nanoparticle within magnetosomes. • The morphologic and phylogenetic diversity of MTB were summarized. • Isolation and mass cultivation of MTB deserve extensive research for applications. • MTB can remove heavy metals, radionuclides, and organic pollutants from wastewater. Magnetotactic bacteria (MTB) are a group of Gram-negative prokaryotes that respond to the geomagnetic field. This unique property is attributed to the intracellular magnetosomes, which contains membrane-bound nanocrystals of magnetic iron minerals. This review summarizes the most recent advances in MTB, magnetosomes, and their potential applications especially the environmental pollutant control or remediation. The morphologic and phylogenetic diversity of MTB were first introduced, followed by a critical review of isolation and cultivation methods. Past research has devoted to optimize the factors, such as oxygen, carbon source, nitrogen source, nutrient broth, iron source, and mineral elements for the growth of MTB. Besides the applications of MTB in modern biological and medical fields, little attention was made on the environmental applications of MTB for wastewater treatment, which has been summarized in this review. For example, applications of MTB as adsorbents have resulted in a novel magnetic separation technology for removal of heavy metals or organic pollutants in wastewater. In addition, we summarized the current advance on pathogen removal and detection of endocrine disruptor which can inspire new insights toward sustainable engineering and practices. Finally, the new perspectives and possible directions for future studies are recommended, such as isolation of MTB, genetic modification of MTB for mass production and new environmental applications. The ultimate objective of this review is to promote the applications of MTB and magnetosomes in the environmental fields.     

Biofiltration and disinfection codetermine the bacterial antibiotic resistome in drinking water: A review and meta-analysis

• Published data was used to analyze the fate of ARGs in water treatment. • Biomass removal leads to the reduction in absolute abundance of ARGs. • Mechanism that filter biofilm maintain ARB/ARGs was summarized. • Potential BAR risks caused by biofiltration and chlorination were proposed. The bacterial antibiotic resistome (BAR) is one of the most serious contemporary medical challenges. The BAR problem in drinking water is receiving growing attention. In this study, we focused on the distribution, changes, and health risks of the BAR throughout the drinking water treatment system. We extracted the antibiotic resistance gene (ARG) data from recent publications and analyzed ARG profiles based on diversity, absolute abundance, and relative abundance. The absolute abundance of ARG was found to decrease with water treatment processes and was positively correlated with the abundance of 16S rRNA (r² = 0.963, p<0.001), indicating that the reduction of ARG concentration was accompanied by decreasing biomass. Among treatment processes, biofiltration and chlorination were discovered to play important roles in shaping the bacterial antibiotic resistome. Chlorination exhibited positive effects in controlling the diversity of ARG, while biofiltration, especially granular activated carbon filtration, increased the diversity of ARG. Both biofiltration and chlorination altered the structure of the resistome by affecting relative ARG abundance. In addition, we analyzed the mechanism behind the impact of biofiltration and chlorination on the bacterial antibiotic resistome. By intercepting influent ARG-carrying bacteria, biofilters can enrich various ARGs and maintain ARGs in biofilm. Chlorination further selects bacteria co-resistant to chlorine and antibiotics. Finally, we proposed the BAR health risks caused by biofiltration and chlorination in water treatment. To reduce potential BAR risk in drinking water, membrane filtration technology and water boiling are recommended at the point of use.     

Compartmentation and effects of lead (Pb) in the collembolan,Folsomia candida

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The impact of soil lead (Pb) pollution on survival, growth, and reproduction of the collembolan, Folsomia candida, and Pb compartmentation in its gut...     

Removal of trace Cr(VI) from aqueous solution by porous activated carbon balls supported by nanoscale zero-valent iron composites

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - In this study, porous activated carbon balls supported by nanoscale zero-valent iron composites (Fe@PACB-700) were used for the first time for the...     

京杭运河杭州段水体污染和细菌群落结构特征

为了解人类活动对城市河道水体污染和细菌群落的影响,选取京杭运河杭州段进行了分季节采样研究。测定了水体的环境与水质参数,分析了细菌丰度、胞外酶活性和群落结构变化。结果显示,从上游到下游,水体中高锰酸盐指数、氨氮、总氮以及细菌丰度和β-葡萄糖苷酶活性大体呈递增趋势,冬季水体总体污染水平及细菌丰度均显著高于其他季节。水体中细菌的主要种类集中在变形菌门(Proteobacteria)、放线菌门(Actinobacteria)、拟杆菌门(Bacterioidetes)、厚壁菌门(Firmicutes)和蓝藻门(Cyanobacteria),所占比例分别为37.8%、24.3%、18.9%、10.8%和8.1%,属于黄杆菌(Flavobacterium)、厚壁菌(Firmicutes bacterium)和放线菌(Actinobacterium)的细菌是水体中大多数时间的优势细菌。限制性排序分析显示,水体细菌群落结构从上游到下游差异明显,高锰酸盐指数和总氮是关键影响因子。杭州市区由人类活动产生的污染物输入是京杭运河杭州段的主要污染源,水体细菌群落对水体污染物的变化有着明显的响应。     

嘉善前体物与气象因子对臭氧生成的影响及臭氧潜在源区分析

利用2017年嘉善善西超级站臭氧（O₃）及其前体物（NO_x和VOCs）以及气象因子（温度、湿度、风速）逐小时数据,分析了2017年全年NO_x和O₃的变化特征以及春季（4—5月）、夏季（7—8月）NO_x和气象因子对O₃生成的影响,利用O₃生成潜势（OFP）评估了VOCs大气化学反应活性,并通过潜在源区贡献（PSCF）和浓度权重轨迹（CWT）方法分析了嘉善春、夏季O₃潜在源区贡献特征。研究发现：O₃日变化特征为单峰结构,NO_x为弱双峰结构。O₃浓度在3—9月较高,春、夏季O₃浓度峰值分别出现在15：00和14：00,春、夏季的NO_x、O₃日变化与2017年全年日变化趋势基本一致。NO_x对O₃存在滴定作用,且低湿高温有利于O₃浓度的升高。春、夏季O₃生成潜势贡献均表现为烯烃 > 芳香烃 > 烷烃,由于烯烃光化学活性较高,夏季烯烃浓度升高导致其贡献较春季增长约18.1个百分点,且夏季VOCs平均最大O₃增量反应活性高于春季。PSCF和CWT分析结果表明,嘉善春季的潜在源区主要为本地、西南方向和东南方向,夏季的潜在源区主要为本地、西北方向、西南方向以及东南方向。