Use of Ganoderma lucidum grown on agricultural waste to remove antibiotics from water - proof-of-concept laboratory-scale bioremediation

Sep 29, 2026

Antibiotic-rich effluents from farming and medical settings threaten antibiotic resistance and require practical removal strategies for both food and environmental pathways. This study presents laboratory-scale, low-cost proof-of-concept bioremediation using the white-rot fungus Ganoderma lucidum cultured on agricultural-waste biomass. Water with or without the fungus was inoculated with twenty antibiotics from six classes and analyzed after 3 days by ultra-high pressure liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry. Statistically significant reductions occurred for 3 quinolones and 1 sulfonamide, while most other antibiotics showed neutral or non-significant trends.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages10

Reading Time25 min

AccessFree to download

1. Introduction

Antibiotic removal proof-of-concept experimental setup

Fungal culture on agricultural-waste biomass

Antibiotic panel and inoculation

Measurement by UHPLC-MS/MS and statistical analysis

Results after 3 days

1. Discussion (implied)

Scope and limitations

RSC Advances PAPER Cite this: RSC Adv., 2026, 16, 1499 Received 29th August 2025 Accepted 3rd November 2025 DOI: 10.1039/d5ra06482a[rsc.li/rsc-advances](rsc.li/rsc-advances) Use of Ganoderma lucidum grown on agricultural waste to remove antibiotics from water Vanessa Juarez,ab Shiva Emami,b Ameer Y. Taha *b and Valeria La Saponara *a Antibiotic-rich eﬄuents from farming and medical establishments into waterways pose a serious risk for antibiotics resistance, promoting a need for eﬀective strategies of removal from the food chain and the environment. In this work, we show proof-of-concept laboratory-scale low-cost bioremediation experiments to remove antibiotics in synthetic wastewater. A white rot fungus, Ganoderma lucidum, was grown on biomass formed by agricultural waste from California (almond shells, cover crop stalks) . Water containing or lacking Ganoderma lucidum was inoculated with twenty antibiotics from six diﬀerent classes. The extent of antibiotic removal was measured at baseline and after 3 days with ultra-high pressure liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass-spectrometry. The data were analyzed with a two-way repeated ANOVA for 17 antibiotic data sets meeting residuals' normality, and a mixed-eﬀects model for 3 antibiotics that did not. Treatment with mycelial biomass for 3 days caused a statistically signiﬁcant reduction, compared to the baseline, in the concentration of 3 quinolones and 1 sulfonamide. There were similar non-signiﬁcant trends or neutral results in the other 16 antibiotics within those 3 days. Within the limitations of our work, our ﬁndings provide a ﬁrst proof-of-concept on the potential tobioremediate certain antibiotics, particularly quinolones and sulfonamides, in synthetic wastewater and with repurposed agricultural waste. 1. Introduction Resistance of bacteria, parasites, viruses and fungi to antimicrobial agents (Antimicrobial Resistance, AMR) is associated with greater risk of diﬃcult-to-treat infections in humans.1 It is estimated that AMR caused 4.95 million premature deaths worldwide in 2019 .2 The 􀀁rst comprehensive assessment of global AMR in the period 1990–2021, published by The Lancetin September 2024, presented also a forecast for 2050, with an estimated total of up to 10 millions annual deaths (directly or indirectly) worldwide due to AMR.3 The World Bank sized the economic cost of AMR to be equivalent, in the worst case scenario, to an average annual drop of 3.8% of gross domestic product, or GDP.4 The largest burden will be disproportionately carried by low-income countries, with an estimated increase of 18 million people living in extreme poverty in 2050 .4 Environmental pollution (legacy and emerging, such as heavy metals, polycyclic aromantic compounds, microplastics, etc.) impacts AMR: it reduces the diversity of ecosystems'microbiome and decreases the rate of degradation of antibiotics in the environment (e.g. through adsorption to microplastics) . The interplay of these pollutants with geochemical conditions aDepartment of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California, Davis, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA, 95616, [USA. E-mail: vlasaponara@ucdavis.edu](USA. E-mail: vlasaponara@ucdavis.edu)bDepartment of Food Science and Technology, University of California, Davis, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA, 95616, USA. E-mail: [ataha@ucdavis.edu](ataha@ucdavis.edu) and synergistic eﬀects on antibiotic-resistant bacteria and genes (ARGs) is an active research topic (see for example ref. 1 and 5–7) . Unsurprisingly, climate change is also exacerbating AMR proliferation in multiple ways. Studies have shown that increasing local minimum temperatures due to climate change increases the risk of AMR.7–9 In addition, Fagunwa et al.10 discussed the challenges of safe pharmaceutical storage in resource-poor countries experiencing extreme environmental conditions due to climate change: in these situations, antimicrobials' potency is reduced, and

FAQs

What is the main goal of using Ganoderma lucidum in this study?

To evaluate whether the fungus, grown on agricultural waste, can remove antibiotics from water under laboratory conditions.

How was antibiotic removal measured and evaluated statistically?

Antibiotic concentrations were assessed at baseline and after 3 days using ultra-high pressure liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry. Two-way repeated ANOVA was used for 17 datasets meeting residual normality, and a mixed-effects model for 3 datasets that did not.

Which antibiotics showed statistically significant reduction after treatment?

After 3 days of exposure to mycelial biomass, statistically significant reductions were observed for 3 quinolones and 1 sulfonamide.

Sep 29, 2026

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