Abstract
Robust control of pathogens in sewage facilitates safe reuse of wastewater rich in valuable nutrients for potential valorization through biological means. Aspergillus niger is widely reported in bioremediation of wastewater but studies on control of enteric pathogens in sewage are very sparse. So, this study aimed at exploring the antibacterial and nematicidal activity of A. niger culture filtrate (ACF). Antibacterial activity of ACF on enteric pathogens (Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Vibrio cholerae, Salmonella enterica, Shigella dysenteriae, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella variicola) was determined by spectrophotometric growth analysis, resazurin based viability assay and biofilm formation assay. ACF showed inhibition against all enteric pathogens except Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Nematicidal studies on Caenorhabditis elegans showed 85% egg hatch inhibition and 52% mortality of L1 larvae. Sewage treatment with ACF at 1:1 (v/v) showed 2–3 log reduction in coliforms, Klebsiella, Shigella, Salmonella, S. aureus and Vibrio except Pseudomonas, indicating significant alteration of complex microbial dynamics in wastewater. Application of ACF can potentially be used as a robust biocontrol strategy against infectious microbes in wastewater and subsequent valorization by cultivating beneficial Pseudomonas.
Highlights
Poor sanitation worldwide is associated with severe enteric infections and malnutrition, resulting in a heavy burden of disease globally
We focused on exploring the ability of A. niger culture filtrate (ACF) to decrease the growth and viability of eight targeted enteric pathogens namely, E. coli, S. dysenteriae, K. variicola, V. cholerae, S. aureus, K. pneumoniae, P. aeruginosa, S. enterica and a nematode model worm C. elegans
Our results show that E. coli MDR was resistant to all the antibiotics, K. pneumoniae, and S. dysenteriae were resistant to 6 antibiotics, V. cholerae is resistant to five antibiotics, S. enterica and K. variicola were resistant to four antibiotics
Summary
Poor sanitation worldwide is associated with severe enteric infections and malnutrition, resulting in a heavy burden of disease globally. The largest source of this infection is the untreated wastewater released into water bodies [1,2]. The most common pathogens usually present in wastewater include Salmonella, Shigella, Escherichia coli, Streptococcus, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Mycobacterium, Trichuris trichiura, Ascaris lumbricoides and Giardia lamblia [3,4]. The increase in the discharge of human waste associated with the population growth resulted in the abundance of pathogenic bacteria in the environment, especially in water that deluges the natural processes of decomposition
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