Abstract
Bacterial communities colonized on submerged substrata are recognized as a key factor in the formation of complex biofouling phenomenon in the marine environment. Despite massive maritime activities and a large industrial sector in the nearshore of the Laccadive Sea, studies describing pioneer bacterial colonizers and community succession during the early-stage biofilm are scarce. We investigated the biofilm-forming bacterial community succession on three substrata viz. stainless steel, high-density polyethylene, and titanium over 15 days of immersion in the seawater intake area of a power plant, located in the southern coastal region of India. The bacterial community composition of biofilms and peripheral seawater were analyzed by Illumina MiSeq sequenced 16S rRNA gene amplicons. The obtained metataxonomic results indicated a profound influence of temporal succession over substrate type on the early-stage biofilm-forming microbiota. Bacterial communities showed vivid temporal dynamics that involved variations in abundant bacterial groups. The proportion of dominant phyla viz. Proteobacteria decreased over biofilm succession days, while Bacteroidetes increased, suggesting their role as initial and late colonizers, respectively. A rapid fluctuation in the proportion of two bacterial orders viz. Alteromonadales and Vibrionales were observed throughout the successional stages. LEfSe analysis identified specific bacterial groups at all stages of biofilm development, whereas no substrata type-specific groups were observed. Furthermore, the results of PCoA and UPGMA hierarchical clustering demonstrated that the biofilm-forming community varied considerably from the planktonic community. Phylum Proteobacteria preponderated the biofilm-forming community, while the Bacteroidetes, Cyanobacteria, and Actinobacteria dominated the planktonic community. Overall, our results refute the common assumption that substrate material has a decisive impact on biofilm formation; rather, it portrayed that the temporal succession overshadowed the influence of the substrate material. Our findings provide a scientific understanding of the factors shaping initial biofilm development in the marine environment and will help in designing efficient site-specific anti-biofouling strategies.
Highlights
Marine biofilms–an undesirable accumulation of microorganisms provide a captivating environment to analyze and record the complex bacterial interactions
Once immersed in the marine environment, surfaces of any material quickly adsorb organic molecules and form a conditioning film [1, 2]. This nutrient-rich organic layer offers an ideal environment for the colonization of microorganisms viz., bacteria, algae, diatoms, archaea, and protozoa that get embedded in a self-produced matrix of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) interspersed with fluid channels [3,4,5]
Several factors including the environmental heterogeneity, substrate material, spatio-temporal variations can influence the recruitment of species [52, 55, 56], and understanding these key associations provide useful insights into their control strategies
Summary
Marine biofilms–an undesirable accumulation of microorganisms provide a captivating environment to analyze and record the complex bacterial interactions. Once immersed in the marine environment, surfaces of any material quickly adsorb organic molecules and form a conditioning film [1, 2] This nutrient-rich organic layer offers an ideal environment for the colonization of microorganisms viz., bacteria, algae, diatoms, archaea, and protozoa that get embedded in a self-produced matrix of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) interspersed with fluid channels [3,4,5]. This complex and dynamic community is known as biofilm and is often referred to as microfouling in the marine environment. Marine biofilms play an antagonistic role by inducing other complex phenomena such as biofouling and biocorrosion [9, 10] that lead to imposing several deleterious consequences in maritime industries, especially cooling systems of nuclear power plants
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