Coastal aquaculture regulates phosphorus cycling in estuarine wetlands: Mobilization, kinetic resupply, and source-sink process.

Estuarine mangrove wetlands have gradually declined owing to the growing construction of aquaculture ponds. How the speciation, transition, and migration of phosphorus (P) adaptively change in the sediments of this pond-wetland ecosystem remains unclear. In this study, we used high-resolution devices to explore the contrasting P behaviors associated with the redox cycles of Fe-Mn-S-As in estuarine and pond sediments. The results showed that the construction of aquaculture ponds increased the content or percentage of the silt, organic carbon, and P fractions in sediments. Dissolved organic P (DOP) concentrations in pore water were fluctuant with depths, accounting for only 18±15% and 20±11% of total dissolved P (TDP) in estuarine and pond sediment, respectively. Furthermore, DOP was less strongly correlated with other P species, including Fe, Mn, and sulfide. The coupling of dissolved reactive P (DRP) and TDP with Fe and sulfide confirmed that P mobility is regulated by Fe redox cycling in estuarine sediments, whereas Fe(III) reduction and sulfate reduction co-regulate P remobilization in pond sediments. The apparent diffusion flux revealed all sediments acting as sources for TDP (0.04-0.1 mg m-2 d-1) to the overlying water, while mangrove sediments were sources of DOP, and pond sediments were major sources of DRP. The DIFS model overestimated the P kinetic resupply ability, which was evaluated using DRP rather than TDP. This study improves our understanding of P cycling and budget in aquaculture pond-mangrove ecosystems and has important implications for understanding water eutrophication more effectively.

Antibiotic Chlortetracycline Causes Transgenerational Immunosuppression via NF-κB.

The extensive and increasing global use of antibiotics results in the ubiquitous presence of antibiotics in the environment, which has made them "pseudo persistent organic contaminants." Despite numerous studies showing wide adverse effects of antibiotics on organisms, the chronic environmental risk of their exposure is unknown, and the molecular and cellular mechanisms of antibiotic toxicity remain unclear. Here, we systematically quantified transgenerational immune disturbances after chronic parental exposure to environmental levels of a common antibiotic, chlortetracycline (CTC), using zebrafish as a model. CTC strongly reduced the antibacterial activities of fish offspring by transgenerational immunosuppression. Both innate and adaptive immunities of the offspring were suppressed, showing significant perturbation of macrophages and neutrophils, expression of immune-related genes, and other immune functions. Moreover, these CTC-induced immune effects were either prevented or alleviated by the supplementation with PDTC, an antagonist of nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB), uncovering a seminal role of NF-κB in CTC immunotoxicity. Our results provide the evidence in fish that CTC at environmentally relevant concentrations can be transmitted over multiple generations and weaken the immune defense of offspring, raising concerns on the population hazards and ecological risk of antibiotics in the natural environment.

Human health risk assessment of antibiotic resistance associated with antibiotic residues in the environment: A review.

The extensive use of antibiotics leading to the rapid spread of antibiotic resistance poses high health risks to humans, but to date there is still lack of a quantitative model to properly assess the risks. Concerns over the health risk of antibiotic residues in the environment are mainly (1) the potential hazard of ingested antibiotic residues in the environment altering the human microbiome and promoting emergence and selection for bacteria resistance inhabiting the human body, and (2) the potential hazard of creating a selection pressure on environmental microbiome and leading to reservoirs of antibiotic resistance in the environment. We provide a holistic view of health risk assessment of antibiotic resistance associated with antibiotic residues in the environment in contrast with that of the antibiotic resistant bacteria and discuss the main knowledge gaps and the future research that should be prioritized to achieve the quantitative risk assessment. We examined and summarized the available data and information on the four core elements of antibiotic resistance associated with antibiotic residues in the environment: hazard identification, exposure assessment, dose-response assessment, and risk characterization. The data required to characterize the risks of antibiotic residues in the environment is severely limited. The main future research needs have been identified to enable better assessments of antibiotic resistance associated with antibiotic residues in the environment: (1) establishment of a standardized monitoring guide of antibiotic residues and antibiotic resistance in the environment, (2) derivation of the relationship between antibiotic levels and pathogenic antibiotic-resistance development in different settings, and (3) establishment of the dose-response relationship between pathogenic antibiotic resistant bacteria and various infection diseases. After identification of key risk determinant parameters, we propose a conceptual framework of human health risk assessments of antibiotic residues in the environment. CAPSULE: A holistic view of human health risk assessment of antibiotic residues in the environment was provided.

Influence of calcite on uranium(VI) reactive transport in the groundwater-river mixing zone.

Calcite is an important, relatively soluble mineral phase that can affect uranium reactive transport in subsurface sediments. This study was conducted to investigate the distribution of calcite and its influence on uranium adsorption and reactive transport in the groundwater-river mixing zone of the Hanford 300A site, Washington State. Simulations using a two-dimensional (2D) reactive transport model under field-relevant hydrological and hydrogeochemical conditions revealed the development of a calcite reaction front through the mixing zone as a result of dynamic groundwater-river interactions. The calcite concentration distribution, in turn, affected the concentrations of aqueous carbonate and calcium, and pH through dissolution, as river waters intruded and receded from the site at different velocities in response to stage changes. The composition variations in groundwater subsequently influenced uranium mobility and discharge rates into the river in a complex fashion. The results implied that calcite distribution and concentration are important variables that need to be quantified for accurate reactive transport predictions of uranium, especially in dynamic groundwater-river mixing zones.