The finding of anammox bacteria brought up the possibility of achieving energy-self-sufficient wastewater treatment plants for nitrogen removal, but their widespread technological application is still under research. The lack of pure cultures, standard cultivation methods and comprehensive genetic data make the molecular research on anammox bacteria challenging, and thus, there is a critical absence of molecular studies to understand how these bacteria make a living. One of the current challenges of anammox bacteria research is to understand niche differentiation, meaning how and why different anammox species find their unique ecological space. RESPIMMOX project aims to understand the biomolecular characteristics of anammox Ca. Brocadia that trigger their niche differentiation as the main anammox genus present in wastewater treatment plants, to improve the efficiency and stability of bioreactors. We will obtain biochemical evidence of the membrane-bound protein complexes involved in the electron transport chain of Brocadia-species, and investigate the soluble yet-unidentified enzymes responsible of the nitrite reduction. We will follow a complexome profiling approach combined with enzymatic activity assays, as commonly performed with Dehalococcoides mccartyi in the host laboratory. RESPIMMOX project will be accomplished through three specific objectives: i) achievement of an anammox Brocadia-enriched culture with high cell concentrations; ii) training of the researcher in biochemical methods to characterize respiratory complexes using the respiration with halogenated aromatic compounds as an example; and iii) identification and characterization of the protein complexes involved in the anammox Ca. Brocadia energy metabolism. The results from this proposal will entail a step forward for the understanding of anammox niche differentiation, specifically of the dominance of Ca. Brocadia in bioreactors, and will contribute to unravel the puzzle that anammox bacteria pose.

CHEMO-RISK aims for a novel scientifically sound chemical risk assessment paradigm that integrates exposure and effect assessment of a broad range of chemicals into a single procedure and provides information relevant to ecosystem and human health. The key innovation is polymer “chemometers” that will be equilibrated with their surroundings and deliver information on the pollutant’s chemical activity in the environment, biota, and humans. A chemometer functions analogously to a thermometer, but instead of the temperature, it yields a measure of chemical activity. Chemical activity in turn indicates the thermodynamic potential for, e.g., partitioning, biouptake and toxicity. CHEMO-RISK aims at breaking the current paradigm in environmental risk assessment of single chemicals that disregards bioavailability, ignores mixture effects, lacks site-specificity and is difficult to extrapolate to human health. The chemometer extracts will be investigated using top-notch (a) GC and LC/Orbitrap chemical analysis to characterise the pollutant mixtures and (b) cell-based reporter gene bioassays to determine mixture effects covering baseline toxicity, specific (e.g., endocrine disruption) and reactive (e.g., genotoxicity) modes of toxic action and adaptive stress responses. Within CHEMO-RISK, the following important research questions will be tackled: (A) Which processes drive the enrichment of pollutants in aquatic biota on a thermodynamic basis? (B) How do pollutants distribute within an organism, and which effects do they elicit at the key target sites? (C) Can we apply everyday-life items such as eyeglass-nose pads to replace invasive sampling in human health risk assessment? (D) To which degree can non-target analysis of chemometer extracts explain the observed toxicity profiles across media? By combining all these research efforts, CHEMO-RISK will provide a unified risk assessment paradigm with risk-based trigger values distinguishing acceptable from unacceptable effects.

Wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) guarantee that contaminated water is released back to the environment in safe conditions. However, due to the rise in antibiotic consumption all over the world, they have become hotspots for the development of antibiotic resistant bacteria (ARB) and the spread of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs). Antibiotic resistance in bacterial pathogens is responsible for the death of thousands of people every year and thus, a high-priority issue for the WHO and the EU. The use of ultrafiltration membranes as physical post-treatment is considered a promising solution for the effective removal of ARB and eARGs from WWTP effluents. However, this alternative has been studied to a limited extent and many questions remain to be tackled. FULLREMOVAL is a training-through-research project aimed at filling these knowledge gaps by investigating: a) the abundance of ARB and eARGs in a local WWTP together with the capacity of eARGs to transform non-resistant bacteria (specific objective-SO1), b) the efficiency of ultrafiltration membranes to remove ARB and eARGs from secondary effluents (SO2) and c) the role of biofouling layer formation for the spread of ARB and eARGs (SO3). The interdisciplinary approach of the hereby presented project combines advanced water technology with innovative microbiological analyses and will help to find mitigation strategies for one of the major global health threats of this century. FULLREMOVAL’s achievements will be beneficial for sanitary services all over Europe as well as adjacent sectors such as the pharmaceutical industry and water resource management. Above all, the whole society will benefit from shedding light on this important public health issue.The experience and prestige of the UFZ in conducting environmental research in all of its facets combined with the scientific expertise of the fellow in membrane technology will make the perfect tandem for the successful development of FULLREMOVAL.