Enhanced removal of antibiotic resistance genes by nanoscale iron-cobalt particles modified with Ginkgo biloba L. leaf: Combining Illumina MiSeq sequencing and oligotyping analysis.

Abstract The addition of second metal (Co) to nanoscale iron particles (NIPs) is an attractive strategy to improve catalytic capacity. However, the nanoparticles tend to form chain-like aggregates. In this study, bacterial 16S rRNA gene, antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and mobile genetic elements (MGEs) from secondary effluent were significantly removed by Ginkgo biloba L. modified nanoscale iron-cobalt particles (GNICPs). When the Co loading, initial pH value, DO and dosage were 10%, 7.33, 8.94 mg/L and 1.12 g/L, some ARGs and MGEs could be reduced below the detection limit at the 2nd or 3rd cycle. Illumina MiSeq sequencing demonstrated that negative correlations were found between ARGs and reaction time/cycles. The predicted microbial functions by FAPROTAX database indicated GNICPs were effective in eliminating human_pathogens_all. Furthermore, oligotyping revealed all ARGs and MGEs were positively correlated with oligotype 10, which indicated GNICPs removed oligotype 10 easily.