Antibiotic resistance of isolates from different water sources in Mbarara, Uganda.

is widely used as an indicator of recent faecal pollution of water. Most strains are commensals; however, isolates in water samples have been shown to carry antibiotic resistance determinants. In total, 47 were isolated from selected drinking water sources in Mbarara, Uganda.

Quantification of β-lactamase producing bacteria in German surface waters with subsequent MALDI-TOF MS-based identification and β-lactamase activity assay.

Environmental oligotrophic bacteria are suspected to be highly relevant carriers of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). However, there is a lack of validated methods for monitoring in the aquatic environment. Since extended-spectrum β-lactamases (ESBLs) play a particularly important role in the clinical sector, a culturing method based on R2A-medium spiked with different combinations of β-lactams was applied to quantify β-lactamase-producing environmental bacteria from surface waters.

Aerobic co-metabolic cis-Dichloroethene degradation with Trichloroethene as primary substrate and effects of concentration ratios.

Pollution with chloroethenes threaten groundwater resources worldwide. Cis-Dichloroethene (cDCE) and Trichloroethene (TCE) are widespread pollutants that often occur together at contaminated sites, either as primary discharges or as degradation products of anaerobic dechlorination. In this study, comprehensive microcosm experiments were conducted with groundwater samples of seven sites contaminated with chloroethenes.

Electrochemical biostimulation of aerobic metabolic TCE degradation in a bioaugmentation approach.

Chloroethenes are globally prevalent groundwater contaminants. Since 2014, TCE has been shown to be degradable in an aerobic metabolic process where it is used as sole energy source and growth substrate by a mixed bacteria culture (SF culture). In 2019, the SF culture was shown to be successfully used in bioaugmentation approaches under field-relevant conditions.

Performance of bacterial and mitochondrial qPCR source tracking methods: A European multi-center study.

With the advent of molecular biology diagnostics, different quantitative PCR assays have been developed for use in Source Tracking (ST), with none of them showing 100% specificity and sensitivity. Most studies have been conducted at a regional level and mainly in fecal slurry rather than in animal wastewater. The use of a single molecular assay has most often proven to fall short in discriminating with precision the sources of fecal contamination.

Wastewater-Based Epidemiology for SARS-CoV-2 Biomarkers: Evaluation of Normalization Methods in Small and Large Communities in Southern Germany.

In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) emerged as a useful tool to account for the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infections on a population scale. In this study, we analyzed wastewater samples from three large (>300,000 people served) and four small (<25,000 people served) communities throughout southern Germany from August to December 2021, capturing the fourth infection wave in Germany dominated by the Delta variant (B.1.

Intrinsic and bioaugmented aerobic trichloroethene degradation at seven sites.

Trichloroethene (TCE) is one of the most prevalent contaminants in groundwater pollution worldwide. Aerobic-metabolic degradation of TCE has only recently been discovered at one field site. It has significant advantages over aerobic co-metabolism because no auxiliary substrates are required, and the oxygen demand is considerably lower.

Cascade Filtration With PCR Detection and Field-Flow-Fractionation Online With ICP-MS for the Characterization of DNA Interaction With Suspended Particulate Matter.

The variety of applied antibiotics in animal and human medicine results in the release, development, and spread of relevant numbers of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in the environment. The majority of ARGs are present in intracellular forms (in bacteria). Neglected aspects are extracellular variants of ARGs (eARGs) and their fragments, which have been detected in surface-water samples and sediments.

Transport-based source tracking of contaminants in a karst aquifer: Model implementation, proof of concept, and application to event-based field data.

Identification and location of contamination sources is crucial for water resource protection - especially in karst aquifers which provide 25% of the world´s population with water but are highly vulnerable to contamination. Transport-based source tracking is proposed and verified here as a complementary approach to microbial and chemical source tracking in karst aquifers for identifying and locating such sources of contamination and for avoiding ambiguities that might arise from using one method alone. The transport distance is inversely modelled from contaminant breakthrough curves (BTC), based on analytical solutions of the 1D two-region non-equilibrium advection dispersion equation using GNU Octave.

SARS-CoV-2 wastewater surveillance in Germany: Long-term RT-digital droplet PCR monitoring, suitability of primer/probe combinations and biomarker stability.

In recent months, wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) has been shown to be an important tool for early detection of SARS-CoV-2 circulation in the population. In this study, a detection methodology for SARS-CoV-2 RNA (wildtype and variants of concern) in wastewater was developed based on the detection of different target genes (E and ORF1ab) by polyethylene glycol (PEG) precipitation and digital droplet PCR. This methodology was used to determine the SARS-CoV-2 concentration and the proportion of N501Y mutation in raw sewage of the wastewater treatment plant of the city of Karlsruhe in south-western Germany over a period of 1 year (June 2020 to July 2021).

[Innovative SARS-CoV-2 crisis management in the public health sector: Corona dashboard and wastewater surveillance using the example of Berchtesgadener Land, Germany].

Background: The rise of an infectious disease crisis such as the SARS-CoV‑2 pandemic posed significant challenges for the administrative structures of the public health service, which resulted in varying levels of efficiency in outbreak management as a function of staffing and digital resources. This substantially impeded the integration of innovative pandemic outbreak management tools. Innovative crisis management, such as cluster tracking, risk group testing, georeferencing, or the integration of wastewater surveillance recommended by the EU Commission, was made significantly more difficult.

Beneficial effects of dynamic groundwater flow and redox conditions on Natural Attenuation of mono-, poly-, and NSO-heterocyclic hydrocarbons.

Natural Attenuation (NA) processes have been demonstrated to reduce pollutant loads at different contaminated groundwater sites world-wide and are increasingly considered in contaminated site management concepts. However, data are mainly available for steady state groundwater flow and stable redox conditions as well as pollutants listed in standard regulatory schemes. In this study, the influence of transient groundwater flow and redox conditions on NA was examined at a former gas works site near the river Rhine in Germany.

Performance of Layer-by-Layer-Modified Multibore Ultrafiltration Capillary Membranes for Salt Retention and Removal of Antibiotic Resistance Genes.

Polyether sulfone Multibore ultrafiltration membranes were modified using polyelectrolyte multilayers via the layer-by-layer (LbL) technique in order to increase their rejection capabilities towards salts and antibiotic resistance genes. The modified capillary membranes were characterized to exhibit a molecular weight cut-off (at 90% rejection) of 384 Da. The zeta-potential at pH 7 was -40 mV.

Ecotoxicity of Nitrogen, Sulfur, or Oxygen Heterocycles and Short-Chained Alkyl Phenols Commonly Detected in Contaminated Groundwater.

Nitrogen, sulfur, or oxygen heterocyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (NSO-HETs) and short-chained alkyl phenols (SCAPs) are commonly detected in groundwater at contaminated sites and in the surrounding environment. It is now scientific consensus that these chemicals pose a risk to human and ecosystem health. However, toxicity data are comparably fragmentary, and only few studies have addressed the ecotoxicity of NSO-HETs and SCAPs in a systematic and comparative fashion.

Bioactivation of Quinolines in a Recombinant Estrogen Receptor Transactivation Assay Is Catalyzed by N-Methyltransferases.

Hydroxylation of polyaromatic compounds through cytochromes P450 (CYPs) is known to result in potentially estrogenic transformation products. Recently, there has been an increasing awareness of the importance of alternative pathways such as aldehyde oxidases (AOX) or N-methyltransferases (NMT) in bioactivation of small molecules, particularly N-heterocycles. Therefore, this study investigated the biotransformation and activity of methylated quinolines, a class of environmentally relevant N-heterocycles that are no native ligands of the estrogen receptor (ER), in the estrogen-responsive cell line ERα CALUX.

Evaluation and application of molecular denitrification monitoring methods in the northern Lake Tai, China.

Worldwide, excessive reactive nitrogen in groundwater and surface waters is a growing problem, especially in areas that face rapid urbanization and industrialization. One example for environmental nitrogen pollution is the Lake Tai, China's third largest freshwater Lake, located in the Yangtze River basin. Due to the rapid development of the surrounding area, nitrogen compounds like nitrate are discharged into the Lake.

Aerobic metabolic trichloroethene biodegradation under field-relevant conditions.

Chloroethenes belong to the most widely distributed groundwater contaminants. Since 2014, it has been known that trichloroethene (TCE) can be degraded aerobically and metabolically as growth substrate by a mixed bacterial enrichment culture (named SF culture). In this study, the degradation capabilities under a range of field-relevant conditions were investigated in fixed-bed reactors as well as in batch experiments.

Heterogeneous asymmetric recombinase polymerase amplification (haRPA) for rapid hygiene control of large-volume water samples.

Hygiene of drinking water is periodically controlled by cultivation and enumeration of indicator bacteria. Rapid and comprehensive measurements of emerging pathogens are of increasing interest to improve drinking water safety. In this study, the feasibility to detect bacteriophage PhiX174 as a potential indicator for virus contamination in large volumes of water is demonstrated.

Biodegradation of pharmaceuticals and endocrine disruptors with oxygen, nitrate, manganese (IV), iron (III) and sulfate as electron acceptors.

Biodegradation of pharmaceuticals and endocrine disrupting compounds was examined in long term batch experiments for a period of two and a half years to obtain more insight into the effects of redox conditions. A mix including lipid lowering agents (e.g.

Since 2015 the SinoGerman research project SIGN supports water quality improvement in the Taihu region, China.

The Taihu (Tai lake) region is one of the most economically prospering areas of China. Due to its location within this district of high anthropogenic activities, Taihu represents a drastic example of water pollution with nutrients (nitrogen, phosphate), organic contaminants and heavy metals. High nutrient levels combined with very shallow water create large eutrophication problems, threatening the drinking water supply of the surrounding cities.