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Sewage and sewage sludge is known to contain pharmaceuticals, and since sewage sludge is often used as fertilizer within agriculture, the reduction of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) Citalopram, Sertraline, Paroxetine, Fluvoxamine and Fluoxetine during composting has been investigated. Sewage sludge was spiked with the SSRIs before the composting experiment started, and the concentration of the SSRIs in the sludge during a 21 day composting period was measured by liquid phase microextraction (LPME) and high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. All the SSRIs had a significant decrease in concentration during the composting process. The highest reduction rates were measured for Fluoxetine and Paroxetine and the lowest for Citalopram. In addition three out of four known SSRI metabolites were found in all the samples, and two of them showed a significant increase in concentration during the composting period.

Marine invertebrates are a rich source for the discovery of novel antimicrobial peptides, compounds regarded as important defense components in the host defense system. Here we report the purification and characterization of an 11.7kDa Gly-rich peptide, named hyastatin, from the hemocytes of Hyas araneus. It consists of three distinctly different domains: an N-terminal region enriched in Gly residues, a short Pro/Arg-rich region, and a C-terminal region containing six Cys residues with a Cys pattern resembling the one found in penaeidins. The C-terminus of the mature peptide is presumably amidated. The hyastatin transcript is constitutively expressed and mainly found in hemocytes. Hyastatin shows antimicrobial activity against yeasts, and Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. The N-terminal region, devoid of the Cys-containing region, was recombinantly expressed in Escherichia coli cells, and shows only weak activity against the Gram-positive bacteria Corynebacterium glutamicum. Both hyastatin and the N-terminal region had the ability to bind chitin. Conclusively, this indicates the importance of the Cys-containing region for the antimicrobial activity, and a possible multifunctional character of hyastatin.