Fermentation broth from fruit and vegetable waste works: Reducing the risk of human bacterial pathogens in soil by inhibiting quorum sensing

Lin Zhu; Jingpeng Li; Jian Yang; Xiaodi Li; Da Lin; Meizhen Wang

doi:10.1016/j.envint.2024.108753

Fermentation broth from fruit and vegetable waste works: Reducing the risk of human bacterial pathogens in soil by inhibiting quorum sensing

Environ Int. 2024 May 15:188:108753. doi: 10.1016/j.envint.2024.108753. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Lin Zhu¹, Jingpeng Li¹, Jian Yang¹, Xiaodi Li¹, Da Lin¹, Meizhen Wang²

Affiliations

¹ Science and Technology Cooperation Platform for Low-Carbon Recycling of Waste and Green Development, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Zhejiang Gongshang University, Hangzhou 310012, Zhejiang, China; Provincial Key Laboratory of Solid Waste Treatment and Recycling, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Zhejiang Gongshang University, Hangzhou 310012, China.
² Science and Technology Cooperation Platform for Low-Carbon Recycling of Waste and Green Development, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Zhejiang Gongshang University, Hangzhou 310012, Zhejiang, China; Provincial Key Laboratory of Solid Waste Treatment and Recycling, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Zhejiang Gongshang University, Hangzhou 310012, China. Electronic address: wmz@zjgsu.edu.cn.

PMID: 38761431
DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2024.108753

Abstract

Fermentation broth from fruit and vegetable waste (FFVW) has demonstrated remarkable ability as a soil amendment and in reducing antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) pollution. However, the potential of FFVW to mitigate other microbial contamination such as human bacterial pathogens (HBPs) and virulence factor genes (VFGs), which are closely associated with human health, remains unknown. In this study, metagenomic analysis revealed that FFVW reduced the HBPs with high-risk of ARGs and VFGs including Klebsiella pneumoniae (reduced by 40.4 %), Mycobacterium tuberculosis (reduced by 21.4 %) and Streptococcus pneumoniae (reduced by 38.7 %). Correspondingly, VFG abundance in soil decreased from 3.40 copies/cell to 2.99 copies/cell. Further analysis illustrated that these was mainly attributed to the inhibition of quorum sensing (QS). FFVW reduced the abundance of QS signals, QS synthesis genes such as rpaI and luxS, as well as receptor genes such as rpfC and fusK, resulting in a decreased in risk of ARGs and VFGs. The pure culture experiment revealed that the expression of genes related to QS, VFGs, ARGs and mobile genetic elements (MGEs) were downregulated in Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and K. pneumoniae treated by FFVW, consistent with the result of metagenomic analysis. This study suggested an environmentally friendly approach for controlling soil VFGs/ARGs-carrying HBPs, which is crucial for both soil and human health under the framework of "One Health".

Keywords: Fermentation broth; Human bacterial pathogens; Microbial contamination; Quorum sensing; Virulence factor genes.