Optimization of Culture Conditions for Amoxicillin Degrading Bacteria Screened from Pig Manure

(1) Objective: The objective of this study was to screen amoxicillin (AMX)-degrading bacterial strains in pig manure and optimize the fermentation conditions for these strains to achieve high fermentation rate, which can provide an effective way for the practical application of bacterial strains as antibiotic-degrading bacterial in treating livestock waste for antibiotic residues. (2) Methods: Antibiotic susceptibility tests and high-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) were employed to screen AMX-degrading bacterial strains in pig manure. The culture conditions were optimized for AMX-degrading bacterial strains using Plackeet–Burman design (PBD), the steepest ascent design, and the response surface methods, coupled with the Box–Behnken design (BBD). The effects of culture time, temperature, rotator (mixing) speed, inoculum level, and initial pH value on the growth of AMX-degrading strains were investigated. Experimental data obtained from BBD were utilized to generate a second-order polynomial regression model for evaluating the effects of the tested variables on the optical density at 600 nm (OD(600)) of culture solutions as the growth indicator for the screened AMX-degrading strains. (3) Results: The initial pH, culture time, and the inoculum level had significant effects on the OD(600) value (growth) of the screened AMX-degrading strains. The initial pH value was found to be the most critical factor influencing the growth of bacteria. The optimized culture condition for the bacterial growth determined by the response surface methodology was: the initial pH of 6.9, culture time of 52 h, and inoculum level of 2%. The average OD value of 12 different fermentation conditions in the initial fermentation tests in this study was 1.72 and the optimization resulted in an OD value of 3.00. The verification experiment resulted in an OD value of 2.94, which confirmed the adequacy of the optimization model for the determining the optimal culture condition. (4) Conclusions: The growth of the screened strain of AMX-degrading bacteria could be optimized by changing the fermentation conditions. The optimization could be achieved by using the Box–Behnken response surface method and Plackett–Burman experimental design.