Thickness determines microbial community structure and function in nitrifying biofilms via deterministic assembly
Artikel i vetenskaplig tidskrift, 2019

Microbial biofilms are ubiquitous in aquatic environments where they provide important ecosystem functions. A key property believed to influence the community structure and function of biofilms is thickness. However, since biofilm thickness is inextricably linked to external factors such as water flow, temperature, development age and nutrient conditions, its importance is difficult to quantify. Here, we designed an experimental system in a wastewater treatment plant whereby nitrifying biofilms with different thicknesses (50 or 400 mu m) were grown in a single reactor, and thus subjected to identical external conditions. The 50 and 400 mu m biofilm communities were significantly different. This beta-diversity between biofilms of different thickness was primarily caused by deterministic factors. Turnover (species replacement) contributed more than nestedness (species loss) to the beta-diversity, i.e. the 50 mu m communities were not simply a subset of the 400 mu m communities. Moreover, the two communities differed in the composition of nitrogen-transforming bacteria and in nitrogen transformation rates. The study illustrates that biofilm thickness alone is a key driver for community composition and ecosystem function, which has implications for biotechnological applications and for our general understanding of biofilm ecology.

Författare

Carolina Suarez

Chalmers, Arkitektur och samhällsbyggnadsteknik, Vatten Miljö Teknik

Göteborgs universitet

Maria Piculell

Veolia Water Technologies AB

Oskar Modin

Chalmers, Arkitektur och samhällsbyggnadsteknik, Vatten Miljö Teknik

Silke Langenheder

Uppsala universitet

Frank Persson

Chalmers, Arkitektur och samhällsbyggnadsteknik, Vatten Miljö Teknik

Malte Hermansson

Göteborgs universitet

Scientific Reports

2045-2322 (ISSN) 20452322 (eISSN)

Vol. 9 1 5110

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Ämneskategorier

Botanik

Ekologi

Mikrobiologi

DOI

10.1038/s41598-019-41542-1

PubMed

30911066

Mer information

Senast uppdaterat

2022-04-05