Revolutionizing Bioremediation: Synergistic Strains Tackle Ofloxacin Contamination
摘要
In this study, to mitigate the ecological risks associated with ofloxacin residues in the environment, two drug-resistant strains, Aerococcus sp. DORC01 and Aspergillus sp. DYN01, were isolated and acclimatized from chronically exposed cow dung. Their efficacy in removing ofloxacin was optimized using both single-organism and mixed-co-culture systems, in conjunction with response surface methodology. Under optimal conditions for single-organism systems, DORC01 and DYN01 achieved 68.7% and 51.8% removal of 100 mg/L ofloxacin over a 7-day period, respectively. The optimal conditions for DORC01 were 29.61 °C, 70.05 mg/L substrate concentration, and 0.46% bacterial load, while for DYN01, they were pH 5.97, 72.99 mg/L substrate concentration, and 0.50% bacterial load. The mixed mycelium spheres were further prepared using a co-culture method with a 3:1 ratio, resulting in an enhanced predicted maximum removal rate of 93.91% under conditions of 33.50 °C, pH 7.45, 0.37% bacterial volume, and a substrate concentration of 74.96 mg/L. This represents a 45% improvement over the efficiency observed with single bacterial cultures. Inactivation experiments demonstrated that live bacteria facilitated degradation primarily through biosorption, with degradation being the dominant process. After 7 days, the removal rate achieved by live bacteria was significantly higher than that of inactivated bacteria. This study is the first to establish a synergistic system involving Aerococcus and Aspergillus, offering a novel strategy for the efficient bioremediation of antibiotic contamination in livestock and poultry environments.