PMID- 38491554
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20240318
LR  - 20240318
IS  - 2049-2618 (Electronic)
IS  - 2049-2618 (Linking)
VI  - 12
IP  - 1
DP  - 2024 Mar 16
TI  - Global prevalence of organohalide-respiring bacteria dechlorinating 
      polychlorinated biphenyls in sewage sludge.
PG  - 54
LID - 10.1186/s40168-024-01754-8 [doi]
LID - 54
AB  - BACKGROUND: Massive amounts of sewage sludge are generated during biological 
      sewage treatment and are commonly subjected to anaerobic digestion, land 
      application, and landfill disposal. Concurrently, persistent organic pollutants 
      (POPs) are frequently found in sludge treatment and disposal systems, posing 
      significant risks to both human health and wildlife. Metabolically versatile 
      microorganisms originating from sewage sludge are inevitably introduced to sludge 
      treatment and disposal systems, potentially affecting the fate of POPs. However, 
      there is currently a dearth of comprehensive assessments regarding the capability 
      of sewage sludge microbiota from geographically disparate regions to attenuate 
      POPs and the underpinning microbiomes. RESULTS: Here we report the global 
      prevalence of organohalide-respiring bacteria (OHRB) known for their capacity to 
      attenuate POPs in sewage sludge, with an occurrence frequency of ~50% in the 
      investigated samples (605 of 1186). Subsequent laboratory tests revealed 
      microbial reductive dechlorination of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), one of 
      the most notorious categories of POPs, in 80 out of 84 sludge microcosms via 
      various pathways. Most chlorines were removed from the para- and meta-positions 
      of PCBs; nevertheless, ortho-dechlorination of PCBs also occurred widely, 
      although to lower extents. Abundances of several well-characterized OHRB genera 
      (Dehalococcoides, Dehalogenimonas, and Dehalobacter) and uncultivated 
      Dehalococcoidia lineages increased during incubation and were positively 
      correlated with PCB dechlorination, suggesting their involvement in 
      dechlorinating PCBs. The previously identified PCB reductive dehalogenase (RDase) 
      genes pcbA4 and pcbA5 tended to coexist in most sludge microcosms, but the low 
      ratios of these RDase genes to OHRB abundance also indicated the existence of 
      currently undescribed RDases in sewage sludge. Microbial community analyses 
      revealed a positive correlation between biodiversity and PCB dechlorination 
      activity although there was an apparent threshold of community co-occurrence 
      network complexity beyond which dechlorination activity decreased. CONCLUSIONS: 
      Our findings that sludge microbiota exhibited nearly ubiquitous dechlorination of 
      PCBs indicate widespread and nonnegligible impacts of sludge microbiota on the 
      fate of POPs in sludge treatment and disposal systems. The existence of diverse 
      OHRB also suggests sewage sludge as an alternative source to obtain 
      POP-attenuating consortia and calls for further exploration of OHRB populations 
      in sewage sludge. Video Abstract.
CI  - (c) 2024. The Author(s).
FAU - Xu, Guofang
AU  - Xu G
AD  - Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, National University of 
      Singapore, Block E2-02-13, 1 Engineering Drive 3, Singapore, 117576, Singapore.
FAU - Zhao, Siyan
AU  - Zhao S
AD  - Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, National University of 
      Singapore, Block E2-02-13, 1 Engineering Drive 3, Singapore, 117576, Singapore.
FAU - Rogers, Matthew J
AU  - Rogers MJ
AD  - Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, National University of 
      Singapore, Block E2-02-13, 1 Engineering Drive 3, Singapore, 117576, Singapore.
FAU - Chen, Chen
AU  - Chen C
AD  - Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, National University of 
      Singapore, Block E2-02-13, 1 Engineering Drive 3, Singapore, 117576, Singapore.
FAU - He, Jianzhong
AU  - He J
AD  - Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, National University of 
      Singapore, Block E2-02-13, 1 Engineering Drive 3, Singapore, 117576, Singapore. 
      jianzhong.he@nus.edu.sg.
LA  - eng
GR  - R-302-000-198720/Ng Teng Fong Charitable Foundation (NTFCF)/
GR  - MOE-00003301/The Ministry of Education, Singapore/
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Video-Audio Media
DEP - 20240316
PL  - England
TA  - Microbiome
JT  - Microbiome
JID - 101615147
RN  - DFC2HB4I0K (Polychlorinated Biphenyls)
RN  - 0 (Sewage)
RN  - 0 (Environmental Pollutants)
SB  - IM
MH  - Humans
MH  - *Polychlorinated Biphenyls/analysis
MH  - Sewage
MH  - *Chloroflexi/genetics
MH  - Prevalence
MH  - Biodegradation, Environmental
MH  - Bacteria/genetics/metabolism
MH  - *Environmental Pollutants/analysis
MH  - Geologic Sediments/microbiology
PMC - PMC10943849
OTO - NOTNLM
OT  - Microbial ecology
OT  - Organohalide-respiring bacteria
OT  - Persistent organic pollutants
OT  - Reductive dechlorination
OT  - Sewage sludge
COIS- The authors declare no competing interests.
EDAT- 2024/03/16 21:42
MHDA- 2024/03/18 06:42
PMCR- 2024/03/16
CRDT- 2024/03/16 00:49
PHST- 2023/10/27 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2024/01/04 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2024/03/18 06:42 [medline]
PHST- 2024/03/16 21:42 [pubmed]
PHST- 2024/03/16 00:49 [entrez]
PHST- 2024/03/16 00:00 [pmc-release]
AID - 10.1186/s40168-024-01754-8 [pii]
AID - 1754 [pii]
AID - 10.1186/s40168-024-01754-8 [doi]
PST - epublish
SO  - Microbiome. 2024 Mar 16;12(1):54. doi: 10.1186/s40168-024-01754-8.