Thesis
Evaluation of urban and rural stormwater microbiomes for community profiling, antibiotic resistomes, and potential biodegradation of stormwater contaminants
Washington State University
Master of Science (MS), Washington State University
05/2021
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7273/000000083
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/120036
Abstract
Stormwater is a frequent and largely uncontrolled source of pollution in rural and urban
environments across the United States. Concern regarding the enormous diversity and abundance
of pollutants in stormwater and their impacts on water quality has grown significantly over the
past several decades. In addition to nutrients and heavy metals, stormwater is a well-documented
source of many chemical contaminants of emerging concern, which can be toxic to both aquatic
and terrestrial organisms. Tire Wear Particles and their associated chemicals are one such
contaminant of emerging concern that have recently emerged as acutely toxic to sensitive aquatic
species like coho salmon. However, no studies to date have evaluated stormwater-associated
microbial communities for their potential benefits or risks to human health. Similarly, the
toxicological impact of tire wear particles on environmental microbes in runoff is currently
lacking. This information is critically needed to better understand the natural bioremediation
capacity, presence of biological contaminants, and resilience of stormwater microbiomes. To this
end, this thesis has i) characterized the microbial community structures of stormwater runoff in both urban and rural settings; ii) evaluated the ability of stormwater isolates to degrade two
model tire wear particle contaminants, hexa(methoxymethyl)melamine and 1,3-
diphenylguanidine; and iii) evaluated the toxicological impact of these model contaminants on
the growth of six model bacterial strains. Stormwater microbial community analysis revealed
distinct differences between rural and urban stormwater runoff. Rural stormwater possessed a
diverse microbiome dominated by Oxalobacteraceae, Microbacteriaceae, Cellulomonadaceae,
and Pseudomonadaceae taxa, while urban stormwater showed much less microbial diversity
overall. However, rural stormwater had elevated loadings of antibiotic resistance genes (e.g.,
sul1, sul2, tet(O), and erm(F)) compared to urban runoff. Additionally, multiple stormwater
isolates were capable of using model tire wear particle contaminants as their sole carbon source,
indicating a high potential for use in stormwater bioremediation. Each model contaminant was
also found to alter growth rates of varying magnitude of model environmental bacteria including
Escherichia coli, Bacillus cereus, and Pseudomonas putida. This study explored stormwater
microbes and the natural bioremediation potential of persistent pollutant through stormwater
microbes to explore their potential as a sustainable solution to stormwater quality management.
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Details
- Title
- Evaluation of urban and rural stormwater microbiomes for community profiling, antibiotic resistomes, and potential biodegradation of stormwater contaminants
- Creators
- Sumaiya Saifur
- Contributors
- COURTNEY M GARDNER (Degree Supervisor) - Washington State University, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Department ofAMANDA KAY HOHNER (Committee Member) - Washington State University, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Department ofINDRANIL CHOWDHURY (Committee Member) - Washington State University, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Department of
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Civil and Environmental Engineering, Department of
- Theses and Dissertations
- Master of Science (MS), Washington State University
- Publisher
- Washington State University
- Format
- pdf
- Number of pages
- 125
- Identifiers
- 99900591862501842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Thesis