Insights on Sulfamethoxazole Bio-Transformation by Environmental Proteobacteria Isolates
Abstract
Although sulfonamide residues are frequently reported as freshwaters contaminants, information on the ability of native bacteria to modify these synthetic antibiotics is scarce. Our purpose was to investigate the potential of bacteria from different aquatic environments to cleave or transform sulfamethoxazole (SMX) and infer on their ability to reduce the toxicity of this antibiotic. From a collection of about 100 Proteobacteria, 47 strains previously isolated from drinking water, surface water, and wastewater grew in the presence of 200 μM SMX, and were further studied. Out of these, 14 strains, mostly from mineral drinking water, transformed SMX into equimolar amounts of the lesser toxic derivative N 4-acetyl-sulfamethoxazole. The highest percentage of SMX transformation was recorded for two strains affiliated to Pseudomonas mandelii. For P. mandelii McBPA4 higher SMX transformation rate and extent were observed in fed-batch (∼8 μM SMX/h, 81%) than in batch conditions (∼5 μM SMX/h, 25%), but similar specific transformation rates were found in both cultivation modes (∼20 μmol SMX/g cell dry weight/h), indicating the dependence of the process on the microbial load. These results evidence that the capacity to transform synthetic antibiotics may be common among bacteria and highlight the potential of environmental bacteria in attenuating the potential adverse effects of pollution with sulfonamides.
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Acetylsulfamethoxazole has reduced biological activity/toxicity compared to sulfamethoxazole.
“acetylsulfamethoxazole’s reduced biological activity/toxicity compared to sulfamethoxazole may limit the relevance of measuring it [12,42,43].”
From Pharmacometabolomics Study of Sulfamethoxazole and Trimethoprim in Kidney Transplant Recipients: Real-World Metabolism and Urinary Excretion (2025) · cites this paper as [43]
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Hof, M. A. J., de Haan, H., Stepanovic, S., Bakker, S. J. L., Hak, E., Hopfgartner, G., Klont, F., & Investigators, T. (2025) · Metabolites · doi:10.3390/metabo15070473 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
“Admittedly, acetylsulfamethoxazole’s reduced biological activity/toxicity compared to sulfamethoxazole may limit the relevance of measuring it [12,42,43].”
- Authors
- Reis, P. J. M., Homem, V., Alves, A., Vilar, V. J. P., Manaia, C. M., & Nunes, O. C.
- Affiliations
- Universidade do Porto (PT)
- Universidade Católica Portuguesa (PT)
- Corresponding author
- Nunes, Olga C.
- Venue
- Journal of Hazardous Materials
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2018-09
- Volume
- 358
- Pages
- 310-318
- ISSN
- 0304-3894 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2810136725
- Cited by
- 80
- References
- 70
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 13 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 14 · 2021: 16 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 8 · 2018: 1 · 2016: 1
- FWCI
- 2.90
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Hazardous Materials (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Portuguese National Funding Agency for Science, Research and Technology (RCAAP Project by FCT) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)
- FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
- North Portugal Regional Operational Programme
- QREN-POPH
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Pollution › Pharmaceutical and Antibiotic Environmental Impacts
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Chemistry › Environmental Chemistry and Analysis
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Pollution › Pesticide and Herbicide Environmental Studies
- Keywords
- sulfamethoxazole, Proteobacteria, Pseudomonas mandelii, antibiotic degradation, wastewater bacteria, microbial load
- MeSH terms
- Biotransformation, Fresh Water, Genes, Bacterial, Kinetics, Models, Theoretical, Sulfamethoxazole, Water Pollutants, Chemical, Proteobacteria, Drinking Water, Wastewater
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