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Biologically Active Arene Derivatives in the Environment—Risks and Solutions
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Biologically Active Arene Derivatives in the Environment—Risks and Solutions

A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Green Chemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2023) | Viewed by 9142

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Urszula Guzik

E-Mail Website1 Website2
Guest Editor
Institute of Biology, Biotechnology and Environmental Protection, Faculty of Natural Science, University of Silesia in Katowice, Jagiellońska 28, 40 032 Katowice, Poland
Interests: microbiological decomposition of compounds with aromatic structure; biochemistry of microorganisms; toxicity testing of xenobiotics to microorganisms; immobilization of enzymes and bacteria
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Danuta Wojcieszyńska

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Faculty of Natural Science, University of Silesia in Katowice, Jagiellońska 28, 40-032 Katowice, Poland
Interests: biodegradation of aromatics including nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs; enzymes involved in the breakdown of aromatics; immobilization of microorganisms and enzymatic proteins; microbial metabolism, kinetics, biocatalysis, protein purification and characterisation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Biologically active compounds are found in the natural environment, both from natural and anthropogenic sources. Especially the latter may pose a threat to the proper functioning of biocenoses. Such compounds include mainly pharmaceuticals, dietary supplements, food additives, plant protection products, and some industrial pollutants, e.g. additives for plastics.

Researchers are encouraged to submit original research papers as well as review articles that will stimulate further efforts to develop strategies that can reduce environmental contamination by bioactive arenes and help remove them from contaminated sites.

Topics of interest in the special edition include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Environmental threats related to the presence of bioactive arenes in ecosystems;
  • Toxicity of bioactive aromatic compounds to living organisms;
  • Medicine and veterinary medicine, animal production and disposal of unused or expired drugs as sources of drugs in the environment;
  • Environmental effects of pesticides;
  • The metagenomics analysis of the ecosystems involved in the bioactive arenes disposal sites;
  • Advanced oxidation processes (AOP) as an effective method of removing bioactive arenes;
  • Sewage treatment plant (STP) processes for removing bioactive compounds;
  • Development of new methods to intensify the degradation of pharmaceuticals;
  • Biotransformation and biodegradation of bioactive arenes;
  • Analysis of bioproducts from physicochemical and biological conversions of arenes.

Dr. Urszula Guzik
Dr. Danuta Wojcieszyńska
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Molecules is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • bioactive aromatic compounds
  • biodegradation
  • environmental risk
  • advanced oxidation processes
  • toxicity

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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20 pages, 2571 KiB  
Article
Rhodococcus Strains from the Specialized Collection of Alkanotrophs for Biodegradation of Aromatic Compounds
by Anastasiia Krivoruchko, Maria Kuyukina, Tatyana Peshkur, Colin J. Cunningham and Irina Ivshina
Molecules 2023, 28(5), 2393; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules28052393 - 5 Mar 2023
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2369
Abstract
The ability to degrade aromatic hydrocarbons, including (i) benzene, toluene, o-xylene, naphthalene, anthracene, phenanthrene, benzo[a]anthracene, and benzo[a]pyrene; (ii) polar substituted derivatives of benzene, including phenol and aniline; (iii) N-heterocyclic compounds, including pyridine; 2-, 3-, and 4-picolines; 2- and 6-lutidine; 2- and 4-hydroxypyridines; [...] Read more.
The ability to degrade aromatic hydrocarbons, including (i) benzene, toluene, o-xylene, naphthalene, anthracene, phenanthrene, benzo[a]anthracene, and benzo[a]pyrene; (ii) polar substituted derivatives of benzene, including phenol and aniline; (iii) N-heterocyclic compounds, including pyridine; 2-, 3-, and 4-picolines; 2- and 6-lutidine; 2- and 4-hydroxypyridines; (iv) derivatives of aromatic acids, including coumarin, of 133 Rhodococcus strains from the Regional Specialized Collection of Alkanotrophic Microorganisms was demonstrated. The minimal inhibitory concentrations of these aromatic compounds for Rhodococcus varied in a wide range from 0.2 up to 50.0 mM. o-Xylene and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were the less-toxic and preferred aromatic growth substrates. Rhodococcus bacteria introduced into the PAH-contaminated model soil resulted in a 43% removal of PAHs at an initial concentration 1 g/kg within 213 days, which was three times higher than that in the control soil. As a result of the analysis of biodegradation genes, metabolic pathways for aromatic hydrocarbons, phenol, and nitrogen-containing aromatic compounds in Rhodococcus, proceeding through the formation of catechol as a key metabolite with its following ortho-cleavage or via the hydrogenation of aromatic rings, were verified. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biologically Active Arene Derivatives in the Environment—Risks and Solutions)
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14 pages, 2986 KiB  
Article
Evaluation of the Defined Bacterial Consortium Efficacy in the Biodegradation of NSAIDs
by Ariel Marchlewicz, Urszula Guzik, Katarzyna Hupert-Kocurek and Danuta Wojcieszyńska
Molecules 2023, 28(5), 2185; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules28052185 - 26 Feb 2023
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2118
Abstract
Due to the increasing pollution of wastewater with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, preparations need to be developed to decompose these drugs. This work aimed to develop a bacterial consortium with a defined composition and boundary conditions for the degradation of paracetamol and selected non-steroidal [...] Read more.
Due to the increasing pollution of wastewater with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, preparations need to be developed to decompose these drugs. This work aimed to develop a bacterial consortium with a defined composition and boundary conditions for the degradation of paracetamol and selected non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), including ibuprofen, naproxen, and diclofenac. The defined bacterial consortium consisted of Bacillus thuringiensis B1(2015b) and Pseudomonas moorei KB4 strains in a ratio of 1:2. During the tests, it was shown that the bacterial consortium worked in the pH range from 5.5 to 9 and temperatures of 15–35 °C, and its great advantage was its resistance to toxic compounds present in sewage, such as organic solvents, phenols, and metal ions. The degradation tests showed that, in the presence of the defined bacterial consortium in the sequencing batch reactor (SBR), drug degradation occurred at rates of 4.88, 10, 0.1, and 0.05 mg/day for ibuprofen, paracetamol, naproxen, and diclofenac, respectively. In addition, the presence of the tested strains was demonstrated during the experiment as well as after its completion. Therefore, the advantage of the described bacterial consortium is its resistance to the antagonistic effects of the activated sludge microbiome, which will enable it to be tested in real activated sludge conditions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biologically Active Arene Derivatives in the Environment—Risks and Solutions)
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15 pages, 2148 KiB  
Article
Immobilized Stenotrophomonas maltophilia KB2 in Naproxen Degradation
by Danuta Wojcieszyńska, Judyta Klamka, Ariel Marchlewicz, Izabela Potocka, Joanna Żur-Pińska and Urszula Guzik
Molecules 2022, 27(18), 5795; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27185795 - 7 Sep 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1609
Abstract
Immobilization is a commonly used method in response to the need to increase the resistance of microorganisms to the toxic effects of xenobiotics. In this study, a plant sponge from Luffa cylindrica was used as a carrier for the immobilization of the Stenotrophomonas [...] Read more.
Immobilization is a commonly used method in response to the need to increase the resistance of microorganisms to the toxic effects of xenobiotics. In this study, a plant sponge from Luffa cylindrica was used as a carrier for the immobilization of the Stenotrophomonas maltophilia KB2 strain since such a carrier meets the criteria for high-quality carriers, i.e., low price and biodegradability. The optimal immobilization conditions were established as a temperature of 30 °C, pH 7.2, incubation time of 72 h, and an optical density of the culture of 1.4. The strain immobilized in such conditions was used for the biodegradation of naproxen, and an average rate of degradation of 3.8 µg/hour was obtained under cometabolic conditions with glucose. The obtained results indicate that a microbiological preparation based on immobilized cells on a luffa sponge can be used in bioremediation processes where it is necessary to remove the introduced carrier. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biologically Active Arene Derivatives in the Environment—Risks and Solutions)
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Review

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17 pages, 1665 KiB  
Review
Factors Influencing the Bioavailability of Organic Molecules to Bacterial Cells—A Mini-Review
by Wojciech Smułek and Ewa Kaczorek
Molecules 2022, 27(19), 6579; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27196579 - 4 Oct 2022
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2343
Abstract
The bioavailability of organic compounds to bacterial cells is crucial for their vital activities. This includes both compounds that are desirable to the cells (e.g., sources of energy, carbon, nitrogen, and other nutrients) and undesirable compounds that are toxic to the cells. For [...] Read more.
The bioavailability of organic compounds to bacterial cells is crucial for their vital activities. This includes both compounds that are desirable to the cells (e.g., sources of energy, carbon, nitrogen, and other nutrients) and undesirable compounds that are toxic to the cells. For this reason, bioavailability is an issue of great importance in many areas of human activity that are related to bacteria, e.g., biotechnological production, bioremediation of organic pollutants, and the use of antibiotics. This article proposes a classification of factors determining bioavailability, dividing them into factors at the physicochemical level (i.e., those related to the solubility of a chemical compound and its transport in aqueous solution) and factors at the microbiological level (i.e., those related to adsorption on the cell surface and those related to transport into the cell). Awareness of the importance of and the mechanisms governing each of the factors described allows their use to change bioavailability in the desired direction. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biologically Active Arene Derivatives in the Environment—Risks and Solutions)
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