Mechanisms of Polyethylene Terephthalate Pellet Fragmentation into Nanoplastics and Assimilable Carbons by Wastewater Comamonas

Comamonadaceae bacteria are enriched on poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) microplastics in wastewaters and urban rivers, but the PET-degrading mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we investigated these mechanisms with Comamonas testosteroniKF-1, a wastewater isolate, by combining microscopy, spectroscopy, proteomics, protein modeling, and genetic engineering. Compared to minor dents on PET films, scanning electron microscopy revealed significant fragmentation of PET pellets, resulting in a 3.5-fold increase in the abundance of small nanoparticles (<100 nm) during 30-day cultivation. Infrared spectroscopy captured primarily hydrolytic cleavage in the fragmented pellet particles. Solution analysis further demonstrated double hydrolysis of a PET oligomer, bis(2-hydroxyethyl) terephthalate, to the bioavailable monomer terephthalate. Supplementation with acetate, a common wastewater co-substrate, promoted cell growth and PET fragmentation. Of the multiple hydrolases encoded in the genome, intracellular proteomics detected only one, which was found in both acetate-only and PET-only conditions. Homology modeling of this hydrolase structure illustrated substrate binding analogous to reported PET hydrolases, despite dissimilar sequences. Mutants lacking this hydrolase gene were incapable of PET oligomer hydrolysis and had a 21% decrease in PET fragmentation; re-insertion of the gene restored both functions. Thus, we have identified constitutive production of a key PET-degrading hydrolase in wastewater Comamonas, which could be exploited for plastic bioconversion

Understanding Lignin-Degrading Reactions of Ligninolytic Enzymes: Binding Affinity and Interactional Profile

Previous works have demonstrated that ligninolytic enzymes mediated effective degradation of lignin wastes. The degrading ability greatly relied on the interactions of ligninolytic enzymes with lignin. Ligninolytic enzymes mainly contain laccase (Lac), lignin peroxidase (LiP) and manganese peroxidase (MnP). In the present study, the binding modes of lignin to Lac, LiP and MnP were systematically determined, respectively. Robustness of these modes was further verified by molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Residues GLU460, PRO346 and SER113 in Lac, residues ARG43, ALA180 and ASP183 in LiP and residues ARG42, HIS173 and ARG177 in MnP were most crucial in binding of lignin, respectively. Interactional analyses showed hydrophobic contacts were most abundant, playing an important role in the determination of substrate specificity. This information is an important contribution to the details of enzyme-catalyzed reactions in the process of lignin biodegradation, which can be used as references for designing enzyme mutants with a better lignin-degrading activity

Glyphosate-Induced Specific and Widespread Perturbations in the Metabolome of Soil Pseudomonas Species

Previous studies have reported adverse effects of glyphosate on crop-beneficial soil bacterial species, including several soil Pseudomonas species. Of particular interest is the elucidation of the metabolic consequences of glyphosate toxicity in these species. Here we investigated the growth and metabolic responses of soil Pseudomonas species grown on succinate, a common root exudate, and glyphosate at different concentrations. We conducted our experiments with one agricultural soil isolate, P. fluorescens RA12, and three model species, P. putida KT2440, P. putida S12, and P. protegens Pf-5. Our results demonstrated both species- and strain-dependent growth responses to glyphosate. Following exposure to a range of glyphosate concentrations (up to 5 mM), the growth rate of both P. protegens Pf-5 and P. fluorescens RA12 remained unchanged whereas the two P. putida strains exhibited from 0 to 100% growth inhibition. We employed a 13C-assisted metabolomics approach using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry to monitor disruptions in metabolic homeostasis and fluxes. Profiling of the whole-cell metabolome captured deviations in metabolite levels involved in the tricarboxylic acid cycle, ribonucleotide biosynthesis, and protein biosynthesis. Altered metabolite levels specifically in the biosynthetic pathway of aromatic amino acids (AAs), the target of toxicity for glyphosate in plants, implied the same toxicity target in the soil bacterium. Kinetic flux experiments with 13C-labeled succinate revealed that biosynthetic fluxes of the aromatic AAs were not inhibited in P. fluorescens Pf-5 in the presence of low and high glyphosate doses but these fluxes were inhibited by up to 60% in P. putida KT2440, even at sub-lethal glyphosate exposure. Notably, the greatest inhibition was found for the aromatic AA tryptophan, an important precursor to secondary metabolites. When the growth medium was supplemented with aromatic AAs, P. putida S12 exposed to a lethal dose of glyphosate completely recovered in terms of both growth rate and selected metabolite levels. Collectively, our findings led us to conclude that the glyphosate-induced specific disruption of de novo biosynthesis of aromatic AAs accompanied by widespread metabolic disruptions was responsible for dose-dependent adverse effects of glyphosate on sensitive soil Pseudomonas species

Interlayer structures and binding conformations in the interaction of a tetracycline antibiotic with a smectite clay

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Interactions of Oxytetracycline with a Smectite Clay: A Spectroscopic Study with Molecular Simulations

International audienceBinding of antibiotics to clay minerals can decrease both their physical and biological availability in soils. To elucidate the binding mechanisms of tetracycline antibiotics on smectite clays as a function of pH, we probed the interactions of oxytetracycline (OTC) with Na-montmorillonite (MONT) using X-ray diffraction (XRD), infrared (IR), and solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopies, and Monte Carlo molecular simulations. The XRD patterns demonstrate the presence of OTC in the MONT interlayer space at acidic pH whereas complexation of OTC by external basal and edge sites seems to prevail at pH 8. At both pH, the 1H−13C NMR profile indicates restricted mobility of the adsorbed OTC species; and, −CH3 deformation and C--N stretching IR vibration bands confirm a binding mechanism involving the protonated dimethylamino group of OTC. Changes in the 23Na NMR environments are consistent with cation-exchange and cation complexation reactions at the different sites of adsorption. Molecular simulations indicate that MONT interlayer spacing and structural charge localization dictate favorable binding conformations of the intercalated OTC, facilitating multiple interactions in agreement with the spectroscopic data. Our results present complementary insights into the mechanisms of adsorption of TETs on smectites important for their retention in natural and engineered soil environments