title: Biofilm processes in treating mariculture wastewater may be a reservoir of antibiotic resistance genes.
abstract: Antibiotics are heavily used in Chinese mariculture, but only a small portion of the added antibiotics are absorbed by living creatures. Biofilm processes are universally used in mariculture wastewater treatment. In this study, removal of antibiotics (norfloxacin, rifampicin, and oxytetracycline) from wastewater by moving bed biofilm reactors (MBBRs) and the influence of antibiotics on reactor biofilm were investigated. The results demonstrated that there was no significant effect of sub-μg/L-sub-mg/L concentrations of antibiotics on TOC removal. Moreover, the relative abundance of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and antibiotic resistance bacteria (ARB) in MBBR biofilm increased because of selective pressure of antibiotics. In addition, antibiotics decreased the diversity of the biofilm bacterial community and altered bacterial community structure. These findings provide an empirical basis for the development of appropriate practices for mariculture, and suggest that disinfection and advanced oxidation should be applied to eliminate antibiotics, ARGs, and ARB from mariculture wastewater.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Science, Xiamen 361021, PR China; Investigation, Design & Reserch Institute of Water Conservancy & Hydropower of FuJian Provincial, Fuzhou, 350000, PR China.
authors.forename: Shuai
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Science, Xiamen 361021, PR China. Electronic address: shzhang@iue.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Shenghua
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Science, Xiamen 361021, PR China.
authors.forename: Chengsong
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ye
authors.affiliation: Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Science, Xiamen 361021, PR China.
authors.forename: Wenfang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Science, Xiamen 361021, PR China.
authors.forename: Menglu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Science, Xiamen 361021, PR China.
authors.forename: Lihua
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Shenyang University of Chemical Technology, Shenyang, 110142, PR China.
authors.forename: Jinmei
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Science, Xiamen 361021, PR China.
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yu
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D001419:Bacteria / Q000235:genetics; D018441:Biofilms; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics*; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D062065:Wastewater / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D062065:Wastewater
keywords: ARB; ARGs; Antibiotics; Bacterial community structure; Mariculture wastewater