Beyond Parent-Compound Removal: Microbial Transformation Pathways, Physiological Constraints, and Evidence Integration for Environmental Steroid Hormones.
- 1School of Life Science and Technology, Changchun University of Science and Technology, No. 7186 Weixing Road, Changchun 130022, China.
- 2Department of Pharmaceutics, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Jilin University, No. 1266, Fujin Road, Changchun 130021, China.
- 3Institute of Toxicology and Pharmacology for Natural Scientists, University Medical School Schleswig-Holstein, Brunswiker Str. 10, 24105 Kiel, Germany.
Abstract
Steroid hormones occur widely in wastewater, sludge, sediments, soils, and receiving waters, where exposure at low concentrations can elicit pronounced endocrine effects. Microbial transformation is an important removal process, yet loss of a parent compound may reflect phase partitioning, structural modification, steroid-ring cleavage, or mineralization. For synthetic steroids such as 17α-ethinylestradiol (EE2) and synthetic progestins, structural compatibility with entry enzymes and downstream metabolic modules further constrains transformation depth. This review organizes current knowledge around transformation depth, linking substrate recognition to aerobic and anaerobic ring-cleavage pathways, HIP-related downstream metabolism, physiological function, and community carbon flow. Aerobic 9,10-seco and estrogen 4,5-seco pathways and the denitrifying 2,3-seco pathway are supported by metabolite, enzymatic, and genetic evidence, whereas Fe(III)-reducing, sulfate-reducing, and methanogenic systems mainly document reversible redox and stereochemical transformations of natural estrogens. We further distinguish growth-linked utilization, cometabolic modification, and potential detoxification-related homeostatic responses, and examine how community functional organization may extend pathway continuity. Finally, evidence is integrated across metabolic potential, active transformation, and steroid-derived carbon flow, while endocrine-risk outcomes are treated as a parallel environmental endpoint. This framework emphasizes that parent-compound removal alone does not establish degradation depth or risk reduction.
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BibTeX
@article{zhang2026beyond,
title = {{Beyond Parent-Compound Removal: Microbial Transformation Pathways, Physiological Constraints, and Evidence Integration for Environmental Steroid Hormones.}},
author = {Tianyu Zhang and Xiaolu Liu and Tong Zhou and Zhaoxin Li and Guangming Xiong and Edmund Maser and Le Gao and Qingshuang Wang and Hao Zhang},
journal = {Microorganisms},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.3390/microorganisms14102160},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42943401},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Beyond Parent-Compound Removal: Microbial Transformation Pathways, Physiological Constraints, and Evidence Integration for Environmental Steroid Hormones.
AU - Tianyu Zhang
AU - Xiaolu Liu
AU - Tong Zhou
AU - Zhaoxin Li
AU - Guangming Xiong
AU - Edmund Maser
AU - Le Gao
AU - Qingshuang Wang
AU - Hao Zhang
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/24
JO - Microorganisms
DO - 10.3390/microorganisms14102160
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42943401
AB - Steroid hormones occur widely in wastewater, sludge, sediments, soils, and receiving waters, where exposure at low concentrations can elicit pronounced endocrine effects. Microbial transformation is an important removal process, yet loss of a parent compound may reflect phase partitioning, structural modification, steroid-ring cleavage, or mineralization. For synthetic steroids such as 17α-ethinylestradiol (EE2) and synthetic progestins, structural compatibility with entry enzymes and downstream metabolic modules further constrains transformation depth. This review organizes current knowledge around transformation depth, linking substrate recognition to aerobic and anaerobic ring-cleavage pathways, HIP-related downstream metabolism, physiological function, and community carbon flow. Aerobic 9,10-seco and estrogen 4,5-seco pathways and the denitrifying 2,3-seco pathway are supported by metabolite, enzymatic, and genetic evidence, whereas Fe(III)-reducing, sulfate-reducing, and methanogenic systems mainly document reversible redox and stereochemical transformations of natural estrogens. We further distinguish growth-linked utilization, cometabolic modification, and potential detoxification-related homeostatic responses, and examine how community functional organization may extend pathway continuity. Finally, evidence is integrated across metabolic potential, active transformation, and steroid-derived carbon flow, while endocrine-risk outcomes are treated as a parallel environmental endpoint. This framework emphasizes that parent-compound removal alone does not establish degradation depth or risk reduction.
SN - 2076-2607
ER -