Insights into the response of anammox process to oxytetracycline: Impacts of static magnetic field

The long-term effects of oxytetracycline (OTC) with a high concentration on the anaerobic ammonium oxidation (Anammox) process were evaluated, and the role of static magnetic field (SMF) was further explored. The stress of OTC at 50 mg/L had little effect on the nitrogen removal of anammox process at the first 16 days. With the continuous addition of OTC and the increase of nitrogen loading, the OTC inhibited the nitrogen removal and anammox activity severely. During the 32 days of recovery period without OTC addition, the nitrogen removal was further deteriorated, indicating the inhibition of OTC on anammox activity was irreversible and persistent. The application of SMF alleviated the inhibition of OTC on anammox to some extent, and the specific anammox activity was enhanced by 47.1% compared to the system without SMF during the OTC stress stage. Antibiotic efflux was the major resistance mechanism in the anammox process, and tetA, tetG and rpsJ were the main functional antibiotic resistance genes. The addition of OTC weakened the metabolic interactions between the anammox bacteria and the symbiotic bacteria involved in the metabolism of cofactors and secondary metabolites, leading to the poor anammox activity. The adaptability of microbes to the OTC stress was improved by the application of SMF, which can enhance the metabolic pathways related to bacterial growth and resistance to environmental stress.