Abstract:[Background] Chloramphenicol (CAP) is a broad-spectrum antibiotic that can induce stress in functional microorganisms, driving them into the viable but non-culturable (VBNC) state and diminishing their antibiotic degradation capacity. [Objective] To address this challenge, we coupled the resuscitation-promoting factor (Rpf) with the chloramphenicol-degrading bacterium Raoultella ornithinolytica CC12 and activated sludge to enhance the treatment of CAP-containing wastewater. Furthermore, we elucidated the microbial community succession during this process. [Methods] Rpf prepared using strain IAM 14879, and the Rpf and strain CC12 were added into activated sludge to evaluate its enhancement for CAP removal, and high-throughput sequencing technology was employed to analyze the succession of microbial communities in different treatment groups. [Results] The results indicated that the addition of strain CC12 to the activated sludge increased the degradation rate of 230 mg/L CAP in wastewater from 56.41% to 89.98%. The addition of Rpf into the activated sludge increased the degradation rate of CAP to 93.53% and resulted in the highest fluorescence peak intensity of tightly-bound extracellular polymeric substance (EPS-TB). The high-throughput sequencing results demonstrated that the diversity and abundance of microorganisms in the activated sludge increased after the addition of Rpf, with notable enrichment of Rhodococcus, Cupriavidus, and norank_f__AKYH767. Particularly, Rhodococcus became the dominant genus. [Conclusion] Rpf improved the degradation efficiency of CAP in wastewater, demonstrating the potential for broad application in antibiotic-containing wastewater treatment.
