Sulfamethoxazole degradation by Pseudomonas silesiensis F6a isolated from bioelectrochemical technology-integrated constructed wetlands

The antibiotic-degrading ability and mechanism of the bacteria in the novel and ecological bioelectrochemical technology-integrated constructed wetlands (BICW) remain unknown. In this study, the sulfamethoxazole (SMX) degrading strain Pseudomonas silesiensis F6a (F6a), which had high degradation efficiency, was firstly isolated from a substrate sample in BICW. The SMX degradation process of F6a follows pseudo first order kinetics. Four metabolic pathways and twelve degradation products were identified. Based on genomics and proteomics analysis, six key SMX-degrading genes, Gene4641 deoC, Gene0552 narI, Gene0546 luxS, Gene1753 nuoH, Gene0655 and Gene4650, were identified, which were mainly participated in C-S cleavage, S-N hydrolysis and isoxazole ring cleavage. Interestingly, we found the corresponding sulfonamides resistance genes were not detected in F6a, which may provide an evidence for low abundance of the sulfonamides resistance genes in BICW system. These findings would contribute to a better understanding of biotransformation of antibiotic in the BICW.