Sediment bacterial communities associated with anaerobic biodegradation of bisphenol A

Abstract

Bisphenol A (BPA) is one of the endocrine-disrupting chemicals that are ubiquitous in aquatic environments. Biodegradation is a major way to clean up the BPA pollution in sediments. However, information on the effective BPA biodegradation in anaerobic sediments is still lacking. The present study investigated the biodegradation potential of BPA in river sediment under nitrate- or sulfate-reducing conditions. After 120-day incubation, a high removal of BPA (93 or 89%) was found in sediment microcosms (amended with 50 mg kg(-1) BPA) under these two anaerobic conditions. Illumina MiSeq sequencing analysis indicated that Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Chloroflexi, Firmicutes, Gemmatimonadetes, and Actinobacteria were the major bacterial groups in BPA-degrading sediments. The shift in bacterial community structure could occur with BPA biodegradation.