Fungi extracellular enzyme-containing microcapsules enhance degradation of sulfonamide antibiotics in mangrove sediments.

Mangroves represent a special coastal vegetation along the coastlines of tropical and subtropical regions. Sulfonamide antibiotics (SAs) are the most commonly used antibiotics. The application of white-rot fungi extracellular enzyme-containing microcapsules (MC) for aerobic degradation of SAs in mangrove sediments was investigated in this study. Degradation of three SAs, sulfamethoxazole (SMX), sulfadimethoxine (SDM), and sulfamethazine (SMZ), was enhanced by adding MC to the sediments. The order of SA degradation in batch experiments was SMX > SDM > SMZ. Bioreactor experiments revealed that SA removal rates were higher with than without MC. The enhanced SA removal rates with MC persisted with three re-additions of SAs. Thirteen bacteria genera (Achromobacter, Acinetobacter, Alcaligenes, Aquamicrobium, Arthrobacter, Brevundimonas, Flavobacterium, Methylobacterium, Microbacterium, Oligotropha, Paracoccus, Pseudomonas, and Rhodococcus) were identified to be associated with SA degradation in mangrove sediments by combination of next-generation sequencing, bacterial strain isolation, and literature search results. Results of this study suggest that MC could be used for SA removal in mangrove sediments.