High-Throughput Microbial Community Analyses to Establish a Natural Fungal and Bacterial Consortium from Sewage Sludge Enriched with Three Pharmaceutical Compounds

Emerging and unregulated contaminants end up in soils via stabilized/composted sewage sludges, paired with possible risks associated with the development of microbial resistance to antimicrobial agents or an imbalance in the microbial communities. An enrichment experiment was performed, fortifying t...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Alejandro Ledezma-Villanueva, Tatiana Robledo-Mahón, Cinta Gómez-Silván, Gabriela Angeles-De Paz, Clementina Pozo, Maximino Manzanera, Concepción Calvo, Elisabet Aranda
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2022-06-01
Series:Journal of Fungi
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2309-608X/8/7/668
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Summary:Emerging and unregulated contaminants end up in soils via stabilized/composted sewage sludges, paired with possible risks associated with the development of microbial resistance to antimicrobial agents or an imbalance in the microbial communities. An enrichment experiment was performed, fortifying the sewage sludge with carbamazepine, ketoprofen and diclofenac as model compounds, with the aim to obtain strains with the capability to transform these pollutants. Culturable microorganisms were obtained at the end of the experiment. Among fungi, <i>Cladosporium cladosporioides</i>, <i>Alternaria alternata</i> and <i>Penicillium raistrickii</i> showed remarkable degradation rates. Population shifts in bacterial and fungal communities were also studied during the selective pressure using Illumina MiSeq. These analyses showed a predominance of Ascomycota (<i>Dothideomycetes</i> and <i>Aspergillaceae</i>) and <i>Actinobacteria</i> and <i>Proteobacteria</i>, suggesting the possibility of selecting native microorganisms to carry out bioremediation processes using tailored techniques.
ISSN:2309-608X