Research progress on biodegradation of sulfonamides

BAI Guomin; SUN Yujiao; SUN Yujie; REN Xueqian; XUAN Yuanyan; LIU Meijun; YUN Ying

doi:10.13205/j.hjgc.202507013

Volume 43 Issue 7

Jul. 2025

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Article Navigation > ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING > 2025 > 43(7): 112-124

BAI Guomin, SUN Yujiao, SUN Yujie, REN Xueqian, XUAN Yuanyan, LIU Meijun, YUN Ying. Research progress on biodegradation of sulfonamides[J]. ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING , 2025, 43(7): 112-124. doi: 10.13205/j.hjgc.202507013

Citation:

BAI Guomin, SUN Yujiao, SUN Yujie, REN Xueqian, XUAN Yuanyan, LIU Meijun, YUN Ying. Research progress on biodegradation of sulfonamides[J]. ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING , 2025, 43(7): 112-124. doi: 10.13205/j.hjgc.202507013

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Research progress on biodegradation of sulfonamides

doi: 10.13205/j.hjgc.202507013

College of Water Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China

Received Date: 2024-06-11
Accepted Date: 2024-08-08
Rev Recd Date: 2024-07-20

Available Online: 2025-09-11

Abstract

Abstract

Sulfonamides， a category of extensively utilized antibacterial medications， have attracted considerable attention due to their role in the escalation of drug resistance among pathogenic bacteria and the spread of drug resistance genes. Biodegradation plays a crucial role in the elimination of sulfonamides from the environment， serving as a natural barrier against the accumulation of these substances. This review provides an overview of the natural biodegradation of sulfonamides， exploring the microbial species involved in this process， and summarizes the optimal degradation conditions for both pure cultures and bacterial consortia. The biodegradation of sulfonamides is influenced by various factors， including temperature， pH， initial drug concentration， and the added carbon sources. Comprehending these factors is essential for optimizing degradation conditions， which can improve the efficiency of sulfonamide removal. Moreover， diverse sulfonamide-degrading bacteria have been observed to share highly similar genomes， which may correlate with their degradation efficiency. Different sulfonamide types exhibit distinct metabolic pathways with specific degrading bacterial genera， which are associated with their genomic characteristics. Currently， practices of bioaugmentation in situ for sulfonamides are still lacking， and the relationship between their metabolic pathways and functional genes requires further investigation.
- sulfonamides,
- microbial degradation,
- control conditions,
- metabolic pathway

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References(90)

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