Biodegradation of tetracycline by Penicillium reticulisporum Te01 under adsorption-metabolism synergy.
Ding M, Wang J, Liu W
Phytoremediation
Tetracycline-laced runoff from nearby farms quietly accumulates in garden soil and can be taken up by vegetables you grow — this fungus offers a natural, living cleanup tool that could one day be worked into compost or soil amendments to intercept that contamination before it reaches your roots.
Farmers use huge amounts of antibiotics to keep livestock healthy, and those antibiotics end up in the soil and water around farms. Researchers found a naturally occurring fungus that can grab onto these antibiotic molecules and then break them down into harmless substances. They tested it under different conditions to find the sweet spot where it works best, and confirmed the leftover products are far less toxic than the original antibiotic.
Key Findings
Penicillium reticulisporum Te01 achieved a maximum tetracycline degradation efficiency of 72.58% under optimized conditions of inoculum dosage, temperature, and pH identified through response surface methodology.
The fungus uses a two-part mechanism — physical adsorption following the Langmuir monolayer model plus active metabolic breakdown — and LC-MS analysis identified 8 transformation intermediates across 2 distinct degradation pathways.
Ecotoxicity testing with green algae (Chlorella vulgaris) confirmed that the treated products had significantly higher EC50 values, meaning the breakdown products are substantially less toxic than the original tetracycline.
chevron_right Technical Summary
Scientists discovered a soil fungus called Penicillium reticulisporum Te01 that can break down tetracycline — a common antibiotic heavily used in livestock farming — removing over 72% of it from contaminated soil. The fungus works through a dual mechanism of physically trapping the antibiotic and then metabolically degrading it into less toxic byproducts.
Abstract Preview
The widespread application and environmental persistence of tetracycline (TC) in livestock farming cause extensive pollution, threatening human health, ecological stability, and organismal growth. ...
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