Native Microalgae-Bacteria Consortia: A Sustainable Approach for Effective Urban Wastewater Bioremediation and Disinfection.

Urban wastewater is a significant by-product of human activities. Conventional urban wastewater treatment plants have limitations in their treatment, mainly concerning the low removal efficiency of conventional and emerging contaminants. Discharged wastewater also contains harmful microorganisms, posing risks to public health, especially by spreading antibiotic-resistant bacteria and genes.

A concept for international societally relevant microbiology education and microbiology knowledge promulgation in society.

Executive Summary: Microbes are all pervasive in their distribution and influence on the functioning and well-being of humans, life in general and the planet. Microbially-based technologies contribute hugely to the supply of important goods and services we depend upon, such as the provision of food, medicines and clean water. They also offer mechanisms and strategies to mitigate and solve a wide range of problems and crises facing humanity at all levels, including those encapsulated in the sustainable development goals (SDGs) formulated by the United Nations.

Continuous UV-C/HO and UV-C/Chlorine applied to municipal secondary effluent and nanofiltration retentate: Removal of contaminants of emerging concern, ecotoxicity, and reuse potential.

As global effects of water scarcity raise concerns and environmental regulations evolve, contemporary wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) face the challenge of effectively removing a diverse range of contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) from municipal effluents. This study focuses on the assessment of advanced oxidation processes (AOPs), specifically UV-C/HO and UV-C/Chlorine, for the removal of 14 target CECs in municipal secondary effluent (MSE, spiked with 10 μg L of each CEC) or in the subsequent MSE nanofiltration retentate (NF, no spiking). Phototreatments were carried out in continuous mode operation, with a hydraulic retention time of 3.

Catalyst-free persulfate activation by UV/visible radiation for secondary urban wastewater disinfection.

This study focuses on the treatment of secondary urban wastewater (W) to improve the effluent quality aiming at the reduction of pathogenic microorganisms for the safe reuse of the treated wastewater (TW). Catalyst-free persulfate activation by radiation-based oxidation was applied as a treatment technology. A parametric study was carried out to select the best operating conditions.

Novel photoelectrochemical 3D-system for water disinfection by deposition of modified carbon nitride on vitreous carbon foam.

Graphitic carbon nitride (GCN) is an optical semiconductor with excellent photoactivity under visible light irradiation. It has been widely applied for organic micropollutant removal from contaminated water, and less investigated for microorganisms' inactivation. The photocatalytic degradation mechanism using GCN is attributed to a series of reactions with reactive oxygen species and photogenerated holes that can be boosted by modifying its physical-chemical structure.

Survival of clinical and environmental carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae ST147 in surface water.

Carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae represents a healthcare threat, already disseminated in the environment. This study aimed to compare the behaviour of a clinical and an environmental K. pneumoniae strain (multilocus sequence type ST147) harbouring the gene bla in water.

Ozone membrane contactor for tertiary treatment of urban wastewater: Chemical, microbial and toxicological assessment.

A membrane ozone contactor, operated under continuous mode, was applied to promote the tertiary treatment of urban wastewater (UWW), targeting the removal of contaminants of emerging concern (CECs), bacterial disinfection, and toxicity reduction. This system relies on the homogeneous radial distribution of ozone (O) in the reaction zone by "titration" through a microfiltration borosilicate tubular membrane, while the UWW swirls around the membrane and drags the O microbubbles generated in the membrane shell-side. The membrane is coated with titanium dioxide (TiO-P25) and radiation can be externally supplied via four UV lamps.

Microalgae systems - environmental agents for wastewater treatment and further potential biomass valorisation.

Water is the most valuable resource on the planet. However, massive anthropogenic activities generate threatening levels of biological, organic, and inorganic pollutants that are not efficiently removed in conventional wastewater treatment systems. High levels of conventional pollutants (carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus), emerging chemical contaminants such as antibiotics, and pathogens (namely antibiotic-resistant ones and related genes) jeopardize ecosystems and human health.

The Complex Interplay Between Antibiotic Resistance and Pharmaceutical and Personal Care Products in the Environment.

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB) and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) are important environmental contaminants. Nonetheless, what drives the evolution, spread, and transmission of antibiotic resistance dissemination is still poorly understood. The abundance of ARB and ARGs is often elevated in human-impacted areas, especially in environments receiving fecal wastes, or in the presence of complex mixtures of chemical contaminants, such as pharmaceuticals and personal care products.

Disinfection of treated urban effluents for reuse by combination of coagulation/flocculation and Fenton processes.

In this study, a combination of coagulation/flocculation and Fenton processes was studied as tertiary treatment in order to generate treated water susceptible to reuse. The combination of both processes has never been applied in disinfection of real urban wastewater. The best removals of turbidity and enterobacteria were achieved when applying a coagulant (FeCl) dosage of 120 mg/L and the natural pH of the effluent (7.

Carbon-based materials for water disinfection and heavy metals removal.

The presence of heavy metals and/or harmful bacteria in drinking water represents significant risks to human health. This study aimed to develop a low-cost water treatment technology using synthesized nanocomposites with metal nanoparticles supported on activated carbon (AC) for bacteria and heavy metal removal. In addition, the performance of the developed nanomaterials was compared with that of commercial materials - carbon fibers of three different typologies.

Application of iron-activated persulfate for municipal wastewater disinfection.

To address the increasing contamination of aquatic environments and incidence of waterborne diseases, advanced oxidation processes with activated persulfate have emerged as tools to inactivate wastewater microorganisms and contaminants. In this work, the disinfection of a secondary effluent from a wastewater treatment plant by iron-based persulfate activation was studied. Experiments in a batch stirred tank reactor were carried out to evaluate the performance along reaction time and the effect of operational parameters in the oxidative process efficiency (oxidant and iron concentration, pH and temperature).

Overgrowth control of potentially hazardous bacteria during storage of ozone treated wastewater through natural competition.

Improving the chemical and biological quality of treated wastewater is particularly important in world regions under water stress. In these regions, reutilization of wastewater is seen as an alternative to reduce water demand, particularly for agriculture irrigation. In a reuse scenario, the treated wastewater must have enough quality to avoid chemical and biological contamination of the receiving environment.

Rethinking water treatment targets: Bacteria regrowth under unprovable conditions.

Ozonation is among the currently used technologies to remove chemical and biological contaminants from secondary treated urban wastewater (UWW). Despite its effectiveness on the abatement of organic micropollutants (OMPs) and disinfection, previous studies have shown that regrow of bacteria may occur upon storage of the ozonated UWW. This reactivation has been attributed to the high content of assimilable organic carbon after treatment.

Feasibility of using magnetic nanoparticles in water disinfection.

Disinfection is a crucial step during the water treatment process due to the significant risks of water contamination with human and animal excreta. The development of innovative disinfection technologies that can be applied at water point of use, avoiding contamination problems in water distribution systems and reservoirs, are needed. Thus, the present work aimed at assessing the disinfection efficiency of iron oxide magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) modified with different compounds, such as carbon nanotubes, copper and silver, in water solutions contaminated with bacteria.

Effect of copper and zinc as sulfate or nitrate salts on soil microbiome dynamics and bla-positive Pseudomonas aeruginosa survival.

The exposure of soil to metals and to antibiotic resistant bacteria may lead to the progressive deterioration of soil quality. The persistence of antibiotic resistant bacteria or antibiotic resistance genes in soil can be influenced by the microbial community or by soil amendments with metal salts. This work assessed the effect of soil amendment with copper and zinc, as sulfate or nitrate salts, on the fate of a carbapenem-resistant (bla) hospital effluent isolate of Pseudomonas aeruginosa (strain H1FC49) and on the variations of the microbial community composition.

Polyphasic characterization of carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae clinical isolates suggests vertical transmission of the blaKPC-3 gene.

Carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae are a major global threat in healthcare facilities. The propagation of carbapenem resistance determinants can occur through vertical transmission, with genetic elements being transmitted by the host bacterium, or by horizontal transmission, with the same genetic elements being transferred among distinct bacterial hosts. This work aimed to track carbapenem resistance transmission by K.

The challenge of removing waste from wastewater: let technology use nature!

Tertiary treatments capable of removing chemical and biological contaminants of emerging concern have been successfully developed and implemented at full scale, opening the possibility of using wastewater treatment plants as recycling units, capable of producing wastewater that can be reused in various activities, such as agriculture irrigation; However, tertiary treatments remove only part of the wastewater microbiota, leaving the opportunity for regrowth and/or reactivation of potentially hazardous microorganisms, facilitated by the poor competition among the surviving microorganisms; Under the motto 'added by technology, lead by nature', the treatment and storage of treated wastewater must find the balance to develop a protection shield against the impoverishment the microbial quality and the development of potentially hazardous bacteria.

Living with sulfonamides: a diverse range of mechanisms observed in bacteria.

Sulfonamides are the oldest class of synthetic antibiotics still in use in clinical and veterinary settings. The intensive utilization of sulfonamides has been leading to the widespread contamination of the environment with these xenobiotic compounds. Consequently, in addition to pathogens and commensals, also bacteria inhabiting a wide diversity of environmental compartments have been in contact with sulfonamides for almost 90 years.

A global multinational survey of cefotaxime-resistant coliforms in urban wastewater treatment plants.

The World Health Organization Global Action Plan recommends integrated surveillance programs as crucial strategies for monitoring antibiotic resistance. Although several national surveillance programs are in place for clinical and veterinary settings, no such schemes exist for monitoring antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the environment. In this transnational study, we developed, validated, and tested a low-cost surveillance and easy to implement approach to evaluate antibiotic resistance in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) by targeting cefotaxime-resistant (CTX-R) coliforms as indicators.

Re-thinking the main goals of biological sciences: is it possible to build new knowledge without fundamental research?

Relationships between collective scientific knowledge and country's economic prosperity and competitiveness have been described. Hence, interaction between industry and academic institutions is seen as a way to valorize this knowledge at social and economic levels. The ability to translate scientific knowledge in social and economic benefits is now receiving most of the funding for public research.

Visualizing the invisible: class excursions to ignite children's enthusiasm for microbes.

We have recently argued that, because microbes have pervasive - often vital - influences on our lives, and that therefore their roles must be taken into account in many of the decisions we face, society must become microbiology-literate, through the introduction of relevant microbiology topics in school curricula (Timmis et al. 2019. Environ Microbiol 21: 1513-1528).

Comparative genomics reveals a novel genetic organization of the sad cluster in the sulfonamide-degrader 'Candidatus Leucobacter sulfamidivorax' strain GP.

Background: Microbial communities recurrently establish metabolic associations resulting in increased fitness and ability to perform complex tasks, such as xenobiotic degradation. In a previous study, we have described a sulfonamide-degrading consortium consisting of a novel low-abundant actinobacterium, named strain GP, and Achromobacter denitrificans PR1. However, we found that strain GP was unable to grow independently and could not be further purified.

Removal of microorganisms and antibiotic resistance genes from treated urban wastewater: A comparison between aluminium sulphate and tannin coagulants.

The presence of antibiotic resistant-bacteria (ARB) and antibiotic resistance genes (ARG) in treated effluents of urban wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) may represent a threat to the environment and public health. Therefore, cost-effective technologies contributing to minimize loads of these contaminants in the final effluents of WWTP are required. This study aimed at assessing the capacity of coagulation to reduce the ARB&ARG load in secondary treated urban wastewater (STWW), as well as the impact of the process on the structure and diversity of the bacterial community.