Characterization of Lactobacillus reuteri WQ-Y1 with the ciprofloxacin degradation ability

As a broad-spectrum fluoroquinolone antibiotic drug, ciprofloxacin (CIP) is frequently used in the treatment of a wide variety of infections. However, the residues of this antibiotic pose a big threat to the aquatic environment and human health. In this research, Lactobacillus reuteri WQ-Y1 with CIP degradation ability was screened and identified. L. reuteri WQ-Y1 with a degradation rate of 65.1% for 4 µg mL−1 CIP was screened from 17 lactic acid bacteria (LAB), and cytochrome P450 enzyme was confirmed to promote the degradation of CIP by L. reuteri WQ-Y1. Meanwhile, the CIP degradation rate were also higher in 48 h’ culture time when co-cultured with 1 mg/mL of glucose in the culture media. Furthermore, result also proved that fluoroquinolone antibiotics with the similar piperazine ring structures could be degraded by L. reuteri WQ-Y1. L. reuteri WQ-Y1 could degrade fluoroquinolone antibiotics with the similar piperazine ring structure. However, future work still needs to be done on the confirmation of the key enzymes in the cytochrome P450 enzymes family in the biodegradation. The isolated ciprofloxacin-degrading strain L. reuteri WQ-Y1 had a CIP degradation rate of 65.1% at 24 hours, and one biodegradation metabolite was identified and proved to be an important metabolite of CIP from cytochrome P450 enzymes family hydrolysis with UPLC-MS/MS spectrograms approach.