Microbial assisted phytodepuration for water reclamation: Environmental benefits and threats

Riva, Valentina; Riva, Francesco; Vergani, Lorenzo; Crotti, Elena; Borin, Sara; Mapelli, Francesca

doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2019.124843

Cited by 35 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 108 publications

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“…The plant rhizosphere is indeed a well characterized, substrate-rich, hot spot for bacterial activity and abundance (Zhu et al, 2018), where naturally competent cells can find higher concentrations of free DNA and could, moreover, reach the growth phase in which transformation occurs with high frequency (Sørensen and Jensen, 1998;Mølbak et al, 2003;Ling et al, 2016;Zhu et al, 2018). Relevant concentrations of ARGs can reach the plant rhizosphere, e.g., through soil amended with manure, sewage sludge and treated wastewater (Chen et al, 2017;Riva et al, 2020;Wu et al, 2020). We selected lettuce as a model plant for the root system colonization experiments, as representative of raw-consumed vegetables of high economic importance in the ready-to-eat food industry.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The exposition of bacteria to a sub-lethal concentration of antibiotics has led to the generation and diffusion of antibiotic resistant bacteria (ARB), through mutations and horizontal gene transfer (HGT) of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) (Smalla et al, 2018). This can be particularly enhanced in specific hot spots of natural and engineered ecosystems, such as mycosphere, residuesphere, rhizosphere and wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) (Eckert et al, 2018;Riva et al, 2020). The spread of ARGs in different environments linked to anthropogenic activities has been largely demonstrated: for example, long-term applications of sewage sludge and chicken manure can improve the abundance and the diversity of ARGs and ARB in soil (Chen et al, 2016), while WWTPs can be considered as one of the main ARGs' contaminated aquatic systems for both ARB and free DNA (Czekalski et al, 2014;Amos et al, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…One of the main recognized routes that could allow AR spread in environments related to the agri-food system is the use of reclaimed water for irrigation purposes. Nowadays the water reuse represents a common practice in several countries and is considered a priority also by the European water management policy to combat the water crisis exacerbated by global warming (Riva et al, 2020). Indeed, at least 20 million hectares of croplands worldwide are irrigated with urban treated wastewater (Bouaroudj et al, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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An Environmental Escherichia coli Strain Is Naturally Competent to Acquire Exogenous DNA

Riva

Eckert

et al. 2020

Front. Microbiol.

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The diffusion of antibiotic resistance determinants in different environments, e.g., soil and water, has become a public concern for global health and food safety and many efforts are currently devoted to clarify this complex ecological and evolutionary issue. Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) has an important role in the spread of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs). However, among the different HGT mechanisms, the capacity of environmental bacteria to acquire naked exogenous DNA by natural competence is still poorly investigated. This study aimed to characterize the ability of the environmental Escherichia coli strain ED1, isolated from the crustacean Daphnia sp., to acquire exogenous DNA by natural competence. Transformation experiments were carried out varying different parameters, i.e., cell growth phase, amount of exogenous DNA and exposition to artificial lake water (ALW) and treated wastewater to mimic environmentallike conditions that may be encountered in the agri-food system. Results were compared with those showed by the laboratory E. coli strain DH5α. Our experimental data, supported by genomic sequencing, showed that, when exposed to pure water, ED1 strain was able to acquire exogenous DNA with frequencies (10 −8-10 −9) statistically higher than the ones observed for DH5α strain (10 −10). Interestingly, higher values were retrieved for ED1 than DH5α strains exposed to ALW (10 −7 vs. 10 −9 , respectively) or treated wastewater (10 −8 vs. 10 −10 , respectively). We tested, therefore, ED1 strain ability to colonize the rhizosphere of lettuce, a model plant representative of rawconsumed vegetables of high economic importance in the ready-to-eat food industry. Results showed that ED1 strain was able to efficiently colonize lettuce rhizosphere, revealing a stable colonization for 14 days-long period. In conclusion, ED1 strain ability to acquire exogenous DNA in environmental-like conditions by natural competence, combined with its ability to efficiently and stably colonize plant rhizosphere, poses the attention to food and human safety showing a possible route of diffusion of antibiotic resistance in the agri-food system, sustaining the "One Health" warnings related to the antibiotic spread.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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An Environmental Escherichia coli Strain Is Naturally Competent to Acquire Exogenous DNA

Riva

Eckert

et al. 2020

Front. Microbiol.

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“…A total of 294 isolates (67, 49, 57, 68, and 53 from the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth sampling, respectively) were isolated from the P. australis roots. The attention was focused on bacteria isolated from this plant compartment because it has been reported that it is primarily involved in the depuration process (Riva et al, 2020). Each of the 294 isolates underwent a taxonomic characterization; to this purpose the amplification, sequencing, and analysis of 16S rRNA coding gene(s) were performed as described in section "Materials and Methods."…”

Section: Taxonomic Affiliation Of Cultivable Bacteriamentioning

confidence: 99%

Temporal Evolution of Bacterial Endophytes Associated to the Roots of Phragmites australis Exploited in Phytodepuration of Wastewater

et al. 2020

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Improvement of industrial productions through more environment-friendly processes is a hot topic. In particular, land and marine environment pollution is a main concern, considering that recalcitrant compounds can be spread and persist for a long time. In this context, an efficient and cost-effective treatment of wastewater derived from industrial applications is crucial. Phytodepuration has been considered as a possible solution and it is based on the use of plants and their associated microorganisms to remove and/or transform pollutants. In this work we investigated the culturable microbiota of Phragmites australis roots, sampled from the constructed wetlands (CWs) pilot plant in the G.I.D.A. SpA wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) of Calice (Prato, Tuscany, Italy) before and after the CW activation in order to check how the influx of wastewater might affect the resident bacterial community. P. australis specimens were sampled and a panel of 294 culturable bacteria were isolated and characterized. This allowed to identify the dynamics of the microbiota composition triggered by the presence of wastewater. 27 out of 37 bacterial genera detected were exclusively associated to wastewater, and Pseudomonas was constantly the most represented genus. Moreover, isolates were assayed for their resistance against eight different antibiotics and synthetic wastewater (SWW). Data obtained revealed the presence of resistant phenotypes, including multi-drug resistant bacteria, and a general trend regarding the temporal evolution of resistance patterns: indeed, a direct correlation linking the appearance of antibiotic-and SWW-resistance with the time of exposure to wastewater was observed. In particular, nine isolates showed an interesting behavior since their growth was positively affected by the highest concentrations of SWW. Noteworthy, this study is among the few investigating the P. australis microbiota prior to the plant activation.

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“…It is no surprise that U.S. medical research spending on the human microbiome has reached US$1.7 billion in the past decade [7] , [14] , given the increasing discovery of microbial impacts on cancer [15] , [16] , obesity [17] , [18] , pharmacological effects [19] , [20] , infant health [21] , [22] , [23] , [24] , and susceptibility to disease [25] . Furthermore, we are becoming increasingly aware of the services microbes provide with regard to agriculture, waste-water treatment [26] , [27] , and climate change [28] , [29] .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Measuring the microbiome: Best practices for developing and benchmarking microbiomics methods

Bokulich

Ziemski

Robeson

et al. 2020

Computational and Structural Biotechnology Journal

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Microbial assisted phytodepuration for water reclamation: Environmental benefits and threats

Cited by 35 publications

References 108 publications

An Environmental Escherichia coli Strain Is Naturally Competent to Acquire Exogenous DNA

An Environmental Escherichia coli Strain Is Naturally Competent to Acquire Exogenous DNA

Temporal Evolution of Bacterial Endophytes Associated to the Roots of Phragmites australis Exploited in Phytodepuration of Wastewater

Measuring the microbiome: Best practices for developing and benchmarking microbiomics methods

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