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The biotransformation of some micropollutants has previously been observed to be positively associated with ammonia oxidation activities and the transcript abundance of the archaeal ammonia monooxygenase gene (amoA) in nitrifying activated sludge. Given the increasing interest in and potential importance of ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA), we investigated the capabilities of an AOA pure culture, Nitrososphaera gargensis, to biotransform ten micropollutants belonging to three structurally similar groups (i.e., phenylureas, tertiary amides, and tertiary amines). N. gargensis was able to biotransform two of the tertiary amines, mianserin (MIA) and ranitidine (RAN), exhibiting similar compound specificity as two ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) strains that were tested for comparison. The same MIA and RAN biotransformation reactions were carried out by both the AOA and AOB strains. The major transformation product (TP) of MIA, α-oxo MIA was likely formed via a two-step oxidation reaction. The first hydroxylation step is typically catalyzed by monooxygenases. Three RAN TP candidates were identified from nontarget analysis. Their tentative structures and possible biotransformation pathways were proposed. The biotransformation of MIA and RAN only occurred when ammonia oxidation was active, suggesting cometabolic transformations. Consistently, a comparative proteomic analysis revealed no significant differential expression of any protein-encoding gene in N. gargensis grown on ammonium with MIA or RAN compared with standard cultivation on ammonium only. Taken together, this study provides first important insights regarding the roles played by AOA in micropollutant biotransformation.

There is increasing interest in using meta-omics association studies to investigate contaminant biotransformations. The general strategy is to characterize the complete set of genes, transcripts, or enzymes from in situ environmental communities and use the abundances of particular genes, transcripts, or enzymes to establish associations with the communities' potential to biotransform one or more contaminants. The associations can then be used to generate hypotheses about the underlying biological causes of particular biotransformations. While meta-omics association studies are undoubtedly powerful, they have a tendency to generate large numbers of non-causal associations, making it potentially difficult to identify the genes, transcripts, or enzymes that cause or promote a particular biotransformation. In this perspective, we describe general scenarios that could lead to pervasive non-causal associations or conceal causal associations. We next explore our own published data for evidence of pervasive non-causal associations. Finally, we evaluate whether causal associations could be identified despite the discussed limitations. Analysis of our own published data suggests that, despite their limitations, meta-omics association studies might still be useful for improving our understanding and predicting the contaminant biotransformation capacities of microbial communities.

An alternative material to activated carbon for water remediation is reported: a porous material based on crosslinked cyclodextrins that is better than activated carbons at adsorbing a range of pharmaceuticals, pesticides and other anthropogenic pollutants. Near-instant removal of organic micropollutants from water Water purification and remediation is often carried out using various forms of activated carbon; it is inexpensive, but only partially removes many organic pollutants. However, regenerating activated carbon for reuse is energy intensive, requiring high temperatures, and performance decreases upon recycling. Now William Dichtel, Damian Helbling and colleagues have developed an alternative to activated carbon for water remediation: a high-surface-area, mesoporous polymer of [beta]-cyclodextrin. Not only does the material outperform activated carbons at adsorbing a range of pharmaceuticals, pesticides and other pollutants, but it is easily regenerated by washing at room temperature. The global occurrence in water resources of organic micropollutants, such as pesticides and pharmaceuticals, has raised concerns about potential negative effects on aquatic ecosystems and human health.sup.1,2,3,4,5. Activated carbons are the most widespread adsorbent materials used to remove organic pollutants from water but they have several deficiencies, including slow pollutant uptake (of the order of hours).sup.6,7 and poor removal of many relatively hydrophilic micropollutants.sup.8. Furthermore, regenerating spent activated carbon is energy intensive (requiring heating to 500-900 degrees Celsius) and does not fully restore performance.sup.9,10. Insoluble polymers of [beta]-cyclodextrin, an inexpensive, sustainably produced macrocycle of glucose, are likewise of interest for removing micropollutants from water by means of adsorption.sup.11. [beta]-cyclodextrin is known to encapsulate pollutants to form well-defined host-guest complexes, but until now cross-linked [beta]-cyclodextrin polymers have had low surface areas and poor removal performance compared to conventional activated carbons.sup.11,12,13. Here we crosslink [beta]-cyclodextrin with rigid aromatic groups, providing a high-surface-area, mesoporous polymer of [beta]-cyclodextrin. It rapidly sequesters a variety of organic micropollutants with adsorption rate constants 15 to 200 times greater than those of activated carbons and non-porous [beta]-cyclodextrin adsorbent materials.sup.7,8,11,12,13. In addition, the polymer can be regenerated several times using a mild washing procedure with no loss in performance. Finally, the polymer outperformed a leading activated carbon for the rapid removal of a complex mixture of organic micropollutants at environmentally relevant concentrations. These findings demonstrate the promise of porous cyclodextrin-based polymers for rapid, flow-through water treatment., Author(s): Alaaeddin Alsbaiee [sup.1] , Brian J. Smith [sup.1] , Leilei Xiao [sup.1] , Yuhan Ling [sup.2] , Damian E. Helbling [sup.2] , William R. Dichtel [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) [...]

The global occurrence in water resources of organic micropollutants, such as pesticides and pharmaceuticals, has raised concerns about potential negative effects on aquatic ecosystems and human health (1-5). Activated carbons are the most widespread adsorbent materials used to remove organic pollutants from water but they have several deficiencies, including slow pollutant uptake (of the order of hours) (6, 7) and poor removal of many relatively hydrophilic micropollutants (8). Furthermore, regenerating spent activated carbon is energy intensive (requiring heating to 500-900 degrees Celsius) and does not fully restore performance (9, 10). Insoluble polymers of β-cyclodextrin, an inexpensive, sustainably produced macrocycle of glucose, are likewise of interest for removing micropollutants from water by means of adsorption (11). β-cyclodextrin is known to encapsulate pollutants to form well-defined host-guest complexes, but until now cross-linked β-cyclodextrin polymers have had low surface areas and poor removal performance compared to conventional activated carbons (11-13). Here we crosslink β-cyclodextrin with rigid aromatic groups, providing a high-surface-area, mesoporous polymer of β-cyclodextrin. It rapidly sequesters a variety of organic micropollutants with adsorption rate constants 15 to 200 times greater than those of activated carbons and non-porous P-cyclodextrin adsorbent materials (7, 8, 11-13). In addition, the polymer can be regenerated several times using a mild washing procedure with no loss in performance. Finally, the polymer outperformed a leading activated carbon for the rapid removal of a complex mixture of organic micropollutants at environmentally relevant concentrations. These findings demonstrate the promise of porous cyclodextrin-based polymers for rapid, flow-through water treatment., Porous β-CD-containing polymers (P-CDPs) were derived from nucleophilic aromatic substitution of hydroxyl groups of (β-CD by tetrafluoroterephthalonitrile (1). Although 1 has been copolymerized with bifunctional catechols previously (14), its reaction [...]