Acetaminophen concentrations found in recycled wastewater alter soil microbial community structure and functional diversity

A green house study was conducted to assess the impacts of Tylenol (APAP) on the soil microbiome associated with Solanum melongena (eggplants). Plants were irrigated with water containing either 10 ug/L, 5 ug/L, or no APAP. The experiment was carried out for a single growing season ( 7 weeks). Illumina sequencing of the bacterial 16s rRNA gene was used to characterize the soil community and monitor for shifts in diversity (as measured by Shannon-Wiener index) or community structure (as determined by PERMANOVA of Bray Curtis distance matrices).