Potential application in amoxicillin removal of Alcaligenes sp. MMA and enzymatic studies through molecular docking

Antibiotic contamination in environmental matrices is a serious global problem which leads to an increase in the proliferation of antibiotic resistance genes. Amoxicillin is ubiquitous in the environment, but there is hardly any information on the dissipation of amoxicillin by the microbial community. In view of this, the present study focusses on the removal of amoxicillin using amoxicillin-resistant bacteria, Alcaligenes sp. MMA. Bacteria were characterized using antibiotic tests, biochemical and molecular analysis. Alcaligenes sp. MMA was able to remove up to 84% of amoxicillin in 14 days in M9 minimal media, and the degradation products were confirmed using LC–MS/MS, including the benzothiazole, 2-Amino-3-methoxyl benzoic acid, 4-Hydroxy-2-methyl benzoic acid, 5-Amino-2-methylphenol and 3,5-Bis(tert-butyl)-2-hydroxybenzaldehyde, at the end of 14th day which further shows the removal of amoxicillin by the bacterial strain. Differential expression of porins was found in the presence of amoxicillin as a sole source of carbon and energy for the bacterial strain. Molecular interaction using in silico studies were performed which showed the formation of a hydrogen bond between amoxicillin and porins.