Biodegradation of Erythromycin with Environmental Microorganism Pseudomonas aeruginosa 3011

M. Šabić Runjavec, L. Čižmek, M. Vuković Domanovac and E. Meštrović

Abstract
If pharmaceuticals occur in the environment, they can cause potential problems due to possible accumulation in the ecosystems. Biodegradation transforms xenobiotics using microorganisms rather than chemicals that create their own disposal problems. Biodegradation can make use of genetically modified microorganisms, which raises ethical and ecological issues, or it can make use of microorganisms that occur in the environment. The aim of this work was to study the biodegradation of the pharmaceutical erythromycin by environmental microorganisms. Initial concentration of erythromycin ranged from 0.02 mg dm–3 to 2000 mg dm–3, while initial concentration of Pseudomonas aeruginosa 3011 was 7.05· 108 CFU cm–3. Inhibition concentration 50 % was 124.2 mg dm–3. The results from the antimicrobial susceptibility experiment showed that P. aeruginosa 3011 is resistant to erythromycin. Average biodegradation efficiency was 33.43 %. These results suggest that pharmaceuticals in waste can be efficiently biodegraded through selection of appropriate, naturally occurring microorganisms, and optimization of degradation conditions.

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Keywords
biodegradation, Erythromycin, Pseudomonas aeruginosa 3011, Batch reactor