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Inhibitory effects of the macrolide antimicrobial tylosin on anaerobic treatment
Author(s) -
Shimada Toshio,
Zilles Julie L.,
Morgenroth Eberhard,
Raskin Lutgarde
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
biotechnology and bioengineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.136
H-Index - 189
eISSN - 1097-0290
pISSN - 0006-3592
DOI - 10.1002/bit.21864
Subject(s) - tylosin , methanogenesis , chemistry , acetogenesis , hydraulic retention time , food science , propionate , fermentation , chemical oxygen demand , anaerobic digestion , microbiology and biotechnology , effluent , chromatography , biochemistry , wastewater , methane , antibiotics , biology , organic chemistry , waste management , engineering
A laboratory‐scale anaerobic sequencing batch reactor (ASBR) was operated using a glucose‐based synthetic wastewater to study the effects of tylosin, a macrolide antimicrobial commonly used in swine production, on treatment performance. The experimental period was divided into three consecutive phases with different influent tylosin concentrations (0, 1.67, and 167 mg/L). The addition of 1.67 mg/L tylosin to the reactor had negligible effects on the overall treatment performance, that is, total methane production and effluent chemical oxygen demand did not change significantly ( P < 0.05), yet analyses of individual ASBR cycles revealed a decrease in the rates of both methane production and propionate uptake after tylosin was added. The addition of 167 mg/L tylosin to the reactor resulted in a gradual decrease in methane production and the accumulation of propionate and acetate. Subsequent inhibition of methanogenesis was attributed to a decrease in the pH of the reactor. After the addition of 167 mg/L tylosin to the reactor, an initial decrease in the rate of glucose uptake during the ASBR cycle followed by a gradual recovery was observed. In batch tests, the specific biogas production with the substrate butyrate was completely inhibited in the presence of tylosin. This study indicated that tylosin inhibited propionate‐ and butyrate‐oxidizing syntrophic bacteria and fermenting bacteria resulting in unfavorable effects on methanogenesis. Biotechnol. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2008;101: 73–82. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.