Authors : Pucci Graciela

Volume/Issue : Volume 11 - 2026, Issue 2 - February

Google Scholar : https://tinyurl.com/5n93cdze

Scribd : https://tinyurl.com/4h9jek6h

DOI : https://doi.org/10.38124/ijisrt/26feb884

Note : A published paper may take 4-5 working days from the publication date to appear in PlumX Metrics, Semantic Scholar, and ResearchGate.

Abstract : Antibiotics have emerged as environmental contaminants. Since microorganisms play a crucial role in the degradation of organic pollutants, including antibiotics, the aim of the present study was to assess the potential of bacterial communities from an oil-contaminated soil to degrade antibiotics. To this end, bacterial communities from a soil with a history of oil contamination were subjected to exposure to five antibiotics: enramycin, norfloxacin, meropenem, penicillin, and oxytetracycline, and their ability to biodegrade the antibiotics was determined by using the closed bottle test, optical density measurements at 600 nm, and community structure analysis by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy and fatty acid methyl ester profiles. The experimental results demonstrated significant biodegradation of enramycin (77.36%), norfloxacin (47.94%), meropenem (68.70%), penicillin (81.27%), and oxytetracycline (70.86%). These findings suggest that, despite the known persistence of this group of antibiotics in the environment, it is feasible to enhance their degradation by using bacterial communities from oil-contaminated soils.

Keywords : Antibiotics, Biodegradation.

References :

1. Acuña A, Pucci G (2022). Domestication of an indigenous bacterial consortium to remove hydrocarbons from soils of the Austral Basin. International Journal of Science and Research 11 (5): 1898-1903.
2. Ahmad HA, Ahmad S, Cui Q, Wang Z, Wei H et al. (2022). The environmental distribution and removal of emerging pollutants, highlighting the importance of using microbes as a potential degrader: A review. Science of The Total Environment (809):151926.
3. Al-Ahmad A, Daschner FD, Kümmerer K (1999). Biodegradability of cefotiam, ciprofloxacin, meropenem, penicillin G, and sulfamethoxazole and inhibition of wastewater bacteria. Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology (37): 158- 163.
4. Bischoff S, Walter T, Gerigk M, Ebert M, Vogelmann R (2018). Empiric antibiotic therapy in urinary tract infection in patients with risk factors for antibiotic resistance in aGerman emergency department. BMC Infectious Diseases 18 (1): 56.
5. Cetecioglu Z, Ince B, Azman S, Ince O (2014). Biodegradation of tetracycline under various conditions and effects on microbial community. Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology 172 (2): 631-640.
6. Coelho LM, Rezende HC, Coelho LM, de Sousa PAR, Melo DFO et al. (2015). Bioremediation of Polluted Waters Using Microorganisms. In N. Shiomi (Ed.), Advances in Bioremediation of Wastewater and Polluted Soil
7. Conde-Cid M, Núñez-Delgado A, Fernández-Sanjurjo MJ, Álvarez-Rodríguez E, Fernández-Calviño D et al. (2020). Tetracycline and sulfonamide antibiotics in soils: presence. Fate and Environmental Risks. Processes 8 (11): 1479, 1-40.
8. Cruz-Morató C, Ferrando-Climent L, Rodriguez-Mozaz S, Barceló D, Marco-Urrea E etal. (2013). Degradation of pharmaceuticals in non-sterile urban wastewater by Trametesversicolor in a fluidized bed bioreactor.
9. Cycoń M, Mrozik A, Piotrowska-Seget Z (2019). Antibiotics in the soil environment degradation and their impact on microbial activity and diversity. Frontiers in microbiology (10): 338.
10. Dawan J, Ahn J (2022). Bacterial stress responses as potential targets in overcoming antibiotic resistance. Microorganisms 10 (7): 1385.
11. de Souza Santos LV, Teixeira DC, Jacob RS, Amaral MCSD, Lange LC (2014). Evaluation of the aerobic and anaerobic biodegradability of the antibiotic norfloxacin. Water Science and Technology 70 (2): 265-271.
12. Grenni P, Ancona V, Caracciolo AB (2018). Ecological effects of antibiotics on naturalecosystems: a review. Microchemical Journal (136): 25-39.
13. Joergensen RG (2022). Phospholipid fatty acids in soil—drawbacks and future prospects. Biology and Fertility of Soils 58 (1): 1-6.
14. Li J, Zhao L, Feng M, Huang CH, Sun P (2021). Abiotic transformation and ecotoxicity change of sulfonamide antibiotics in environmental and water treatment processes: A critical review. Water Research (202): 117463. DOI:
15. Liu Y, Chang H, Li Z, Zhang C, Feng Y, Cheng D (2016). Gentamicin removal in submerged fermentation using the novel fungal strain Aspergillus terreus FZC3. Scientific Reports 6 (1).
16. Liu Y, Zhang ZH, Bao WB, Yu R, Wang CY (2016). Effects of penicillin on soil microbial community structure. Journal of Ecology and Rural Environment 32 (2): 309- 314.
17. Massé DI, Cata Saady NM, Gilbert Y (2014). Potential of biological processes to eliminate antibiotics in livestock manure: an overview. Animals 4 (2): 146-163.
18. Mendez AS, Steppe M, Schapoval EE (2003). Validation of HPLC and UV spectrophotometric methods for the determination of meropenem in pharmaceutical dosage form. Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Analysis, 33 (5): 947-954.
19. Mohammed AA, Atiya MA, Hussein MA (2020). Removal of antibiotic tetracycline using nano-fluid emulsion liquid membrane: Breakage, extraction and stripping studies. Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects (595):124680.
20. Mouwen DJM, Capita R, Alonso-Calleja C, Prieto-Gómez J, Prieto M (2006). Artificial neural network-based identification of Campylobacter species by Fourier transforms infrared spectroscopy. Journal of Microbiological Methods 67 (1): 131–140.
21. Nielsen KM, Gjøen T, Asare NYO, Lunestad BT, Ytrehus B, Yazdankhah SP et al. (2018). Antimicrobial resistance in wildlife potential for dissemination. Opinion of the Panel on Microbial Ecology of the Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food and Environment. VKM Report
22. Norris CE, Swallow MJ, Liptzin D, Cope M, Mac Bean G et al. (2023). Use of phospholipid fatty acid analysis as phenotypic biomarkers for soil health and the influence of management practices. Applied Soil Ecology (185): 104793.
23. Oberoi A, Jia Y, Zhang H, Khanal SK, Lu H (2019). Insights into the fate and removal of antibiotics in engineered biological treatment systems: a critical review. Environmental Science & Technology 53(13): 7234-7264.
24. Popovic AL, Rusmirovic JD, Velickovic Z, Radovanovic Z, Ristic M et al. (2020). Novel amino-functionalized lignin microspheres: High performance biosorbent with enhanced capacity for heavy metal ion removal. International Journal Biology Macromol (156): 1160-1173.
25. Reis AC, Kolvenbach BA, Nunes OC, Corvini PF (2020). Biodegradation of antibiotics: the new resistance determinants–part II. National Center for Biotechnology Information 25 (54): 54, 13-27.
26. Robles-Jimenez LE, Aranda-Aguirre E, Castelan-Ortega OA, Shettino-Bermudez BS, Ortiz-Salinas R et al. (2021). Worldwide traceability of antibiotic residues from livestock in wastewater and soil: A systematic review. Animals (Basel) 12 (1): 60.
27. Rodriguez C, Lang L, Wang A, Altendorf K, García F, Lipski A (2009) Lettuce for human consumption collected in Costa Rica contain complex communities of culturable oxytetracycline- and gentamicin-resistant Bacteria. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 72 (9): 5870–5876.
28. Shah, B. A., Malhotra, H., Papade, S. E., Dhamale, T., Ingale, O. P., Kasarlawar, S. T., & Phale, P. S. (2024). Microbial degradation of contaminants of emerging concern: metabolic, genetic and omics insights for enhanced bioremediation. Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology, 12, 1470522.
29. Topp, E., Renaud, J., Sumarah, M., & Sabourin, L. (2016). Reduced persistence of the macrolide antibiotics erythromycin, clarithromycin and azithromycin in agricultural soil following several years of exposure in the field. Science of the Total Environment, 562, 136-144.
30. Saitoh T, Shibayama T (2016). Removal and degradation of β-lactam antibiotics in water using didodecyldimethylammonium bromide-modified montmorillonite organoclay. Journal of Hazardous Materials (317): 677-685.
31. Schumacher K, Brameyer S, Jung K (2023). Bacterial acid stress response: From cellular changes to antibiotic tolerance and phenotypic heterogeneity. Current Opinion in Microbiology (75): 102367.
32. Singh VK, Singh R, Kumar A, Bhadouria R, Singh P, Notarte KI (2021). Antibiotics and antibiotic resistance genes in agroecosystems as emerging contaminants. Sustainable Agriculture Reviews: Emerging Contaminants in Agriculture
33. Wu S, Zhang J, Xia A, Huang Y, Zhu X et al. (2022). Microalgae cultivation for antibiotic oxytetracycline wastewater treatment. Environmental Research (214): 113850.
34. Yang L, Ren L, Tan X, Chu H, Chen J et al. (2020). Removal of ofloxacin with biofuel production by oleaginous microalgae Scenedesmus obliquus. Bioresource Technol (315): 123738.
35. Yang Q, Gao Y, Ke J, Show PL, Ge Y et al. (2021). Antibiotics: An overview on the environmental occurrence, toxicity, degradation, and removal methods. Bioengineered 12 (1): 7376-7416.
36. Zhang R, Yang S, An Y, Wang Y, Lei Y, Song L. (2022). Antibiotics and antibiotic resistance genes in landfills: a review. Science Total Environmental (806): 150647. Zhou T, Cao L, Zhang Q, Liu Y, Xiang S et al. (2021). Effect of chlortetracycline on the growth and intracellular components of Spirulina platensis and its biodegradation pathway. Journal of Hazardous Materials (413): 125310.