Avaliação da diversidade microbiana e do risco clínico-microbiológico de sistemas de biorreatores para produção de biogás e biofertilizante a partir de dejetos da pecuária leiteira

Abstract

Anaerobic digestion is a sustainable alternative to using animal waste as an energy source. In this context, the dynamics of the microbial community, inactivation of pathogens or even spread of resistance genes during the process of digestion becomes relevant. This study evaluated the taxonomic diversity (Bacteria and Archaea domains) and the persistence of bacterial groups of relevance and resistance to antimicrobial drugs, analyzing two continuous pilot scale digesters operated at ambient temperature in two seasons, summer and winter. The substrate was composed fresh cow dung diluted with water for washing floors (total solids 2 to 3%). Biogas samples were collected to determine the levels of methane. For physico-chemical analysis of influent (initial load) and effluent, aliquots were collected during 60 days of fermentation for analyzes of total volatile solids and pH. Analyzes of microbial communities were performed by quantitative PCR (qPCR), PCR-single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) analysis and metagenomics. The density of different bacterial groups was performed by direct counting. Bacterial strains were identified biochemically using commercial kits. The drug susceptibility was determined by the agar dilution method. Quantification of genes encoding resistance to macrolides (ermB), aminoglycosides (aphA2) and beta-lactams (blaTEM-1) were observed by qPCR. The taxonomy of clinically relevant bacteria was further evaluated by similarity from a database created with 30 DNA sequences coding for 16S rRNA of potentially pathogenic bacteria. Independent of season, the process of digestion showed similar performance, with rates average yield and percent methane, 59.2% in summer and 53.7% in winter. The dynamics and the average values of the number of copies of the gene V3 Bacteria and Archaea were also similar. Changes occurred in the composition (phylum and families) of the microbial communities between seasons and these changes did not influence the production of methane. Probably occurred a redundancy group able to perform similar functions. Significant reductions of bacterial groups of clinical and microbiological relevance viable in both seasons were observed. Despite this, multiresistant bacteria were detected in both the affluents and effluents. Gram-positive cocci (GPC), the most prevalent group was resistant to penicillin and levofloxacin, while ampicillin, ampicillin-sulbactam, chloramphenicol was observed more frequently among Gram-negative rods of the Enterobacteriaceae family (ENT) and not fermenters (NF GNR). Enterococcus spp. were most frequently GPC isolated and among the GNR, Escherichia coli was the most abundant. There was reduction in the number of copies of all the resistance genes (ermB, aphA2 and blaTEM-1) during the process of digestion, however, the effluent still showing concerning levels. Bacterial taxonomy evaluated by similarity of the sequences showed Clostridium spp., Acinetobacter and Strenotrophomonas were the bacteria more identified. In spite the data presented in this study showed anaerobic digestion as an important solution to recycling and energy production, raises concerns about health risks of character during the process. In addition, discussions regarding the use of antimicrobials in dairy farming are needed.