Effluent decontamination by the ibuprofen-mineralizing strain, Sphingopyxis granuli RW412: Metabolic processes

• Published in: Environmental pollution (1987) Vol. 274; p. 116536
• Main Authors: Aguilar-Romero, Inés, De la Torre-Zúñiga, Jesús, Quesada, José Miguel, Haïdour, Ali, O’Connell, Garret, McAmmond, Breanne M., Van Hamme, Jonathan D., Romero, Esperanza, Wittich, Regina-Michaela, van Dillewijn, Pieter
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01.04.2021
• Subjects: Biodegradation; Biopurification systems; Decontamination; Ibuprofen; Metabolites; Sphingomonadaceae; Waste Disposal, Fluid; Waste Water; Water Pollutants, Chemical - analysis; Water Purification; WWTP effluent; Biodegradation; Biopurification systems; WWTP effluent; Metabolites; Ibuprofen
• ISSN: 0269-7491; 1873-6424
• DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2021.116536

The high global consumption of ibuprofen and its limited elimination by wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), has led to the contamination of aquatic systems by this common analgesic and its metabolites. The potentially negative environmental and public health effects of this emerging contaminant have raised concerns, driving the demand for treatment technologies. The implementation of bacteria which mineralize organic contaminants in biopurification systems used to decontaminate water or directly in processes in WWTPs, is a cheap and sustainable means for complete elimination before release into the environment. In this work, an ibuprofen-mineralizing bacterial strain isolated from sediments of the River Elbe was characterized and assayed to remediate different ibuprofen-polluted media. Strain RW412, which was identified as Sphingopyxis granuli, has a 4.48 Mb genome which includes plasmid sequences which harbor the ipf genes that encode the first steps of ibuprofen mineralization. Here, we confirm that these genes encode enzymes which initiate CoA ligation to ibuprofen, followed by aromatic ring activation by a dioxygenase and retroaldol cleavage to unequivocally produce 4-isobutylcatechol and propionyl-CoA which then undergo further degradation. In liquid mineral salts medium, the strain eliminated more than 2 mM ibuprofen within 74 h with a generation time of 16 h. Upon inoculation into biopurification systems, it eliminated repeated doses of ibuprofen within a few days. Furthermore, in these systems the presence of RW412 avoided the accumulation of ibuprofen metabolites. In ibuprofen-spiked effluent from a municipal WWTP, ibuprofen removal by this strain was 7 times faster than by the indigenous microbiota. These results suggest that this strain can persist and remain active under environmentally relevant conditions, and may be a useful innovation to eliminate this emerging contaminant from urban wastewater treatment systems. [Display omitted] •Sphingopyxis granuli RW412 removes ibuprofen from biopurification systems.•RW412 avoids the accumulation of ibuprofen metabolites in biopurification systems.•RW412 bioaugmentation removes ibuprofen from WWTP effluents.•Structures of intermediates ibuprofenyl-CoA and 4-isobutylcatechol are resolved. Ibuprofen mineralization by Sphingopyxis granuli RW412 was characterized molecularly and the strain assayed to remediate ibuprofen from different artificially polluted media.