TY - JOUR

T1 - Bacterial diversity of biofilms on polyhydroxybutyrate exposed to marine conditions

T2 - Ex-situ vs. in-situ tests

AU - Bhalerao, Aniruddha

AU - Dueker, Urda

AU - Weber, Miriam

AU - Eich, Andreas

AU - Lott, Christian

AU - Endres, Hans Josef

AU - Nogueira, Regina

N1 - Funding Information: This research was funded by the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture , Germany (BMEL) via the Agency for Renewable Resources (FNR) (project numbers: 22025118 and 22028618 ). Mr. Bhalerao was supported by the Research Grants - Doctoral Programmes in Germany, 2019/2020 from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD, funding ID: 57440921 ). Funding Information: The computational part of this study was supported by the cluster system at the Leibniz University Hannover , Germany. We would like to thank the support team for their prompt and productive input.

PY - 2023/12/20

Y1 - 2023/12/20

N2 - Biofilms form on any available surface and, depending on the characteristics of the material and the environmental conditions, biodegradation can take place. We compared the bacterial composition of polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB)-related biofilm communities from marine ex-situ and in-situ tests to assess the differences in diversity and abundance between these two biofilms. This comparison will help to better assess the transferability of tank tests to real-life scenarios. The in-situ tests were set up in the Mediterranean Sea on the Island of Elba, Italy where PHB-tensile bars were lodged in the sediments. This created a water-exposed aerobic and mud-planted anaerobic scenario. The ex-situ tests were modeled after in-situ tests and performed in temperature-controlled tanks. The PHB-related biofilms were harvested after 240 days of exposure along with planktonic bacteria, and particle- and sediment-related biofilm. The bacterial composition was elucidated using 16S rDNA sequencing. Biofilms harvested from the in-situ test were more diverse, less even, and contained more rare species compared to biofilms from the ex-situ test. The PHB-related biofilm was characterized by a higher abundance of the bacterial order Desulfobacterales. The composition of PHB-related biofilm varied significantly between the two tests and between aerobic and anaerobic conditions. The composition of PHB-related biofilm was significantly different from planktonic bacteria, particle, and sediment-related biofilm, showing the influence of PHB on the biofilm composition. Thus, the ex-situ tank test for PHB degradation cannot, in terms of bacterial composition, simulate the in-situ conditions to their full extent.

AB - Biofilms form on any available surface and, depending on the characteristics of the material and the environmental conditions, biodegradation can take place. We compared the bacterial composition of polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB)-related biofilm communities from marine ex-situ and in-situ tests to assess the differences in diversity and abundance between these two biofilms. This comparison will help to better assess the transferability of tank tests to real-life scenarios. The in-situ tests were set up in the Mediterranean Sea on the Island of Elba, Italy where PHB-tensile bars were lodged in the sediments. This created a water-exposed aerobic and mud-planted anaerobic scenario. The ex-situ tests were modeled after in-situ tests and performed in temperature-controlled tanks. The PHB-related biofilms were harvested after 240 days of exposure along with planktonic bacteria, and particle- and sediment-related biofilm. The bacterial composition was elucidated using 16S rDNA sequencing. Biofilms harvested from the in-situ test were more diverse, less even, and contained more rare species compared to biofilms from the ex-situ test. The PHB-related biofilm was characterized by a higher abundance of the bacterial order Desulfobacterales. The composition of PHB-related biofilm varied significantly between the two tests and between aerobic and anaerobic conditions. The composition of PHB-related biofilm was significantly different from planktonic bacteria, particle, and sediment-related biofilm, showing the influence of PHB on the biofilm composition. Thus, the ex-situ tank test for PHB degradation cannot, in terms of bacterial composition, simulate the in-situ conditions to their full extent.

KW - Bacterial diversity

KW - Biofilm

KW - Ex-situ test

KW - In-situ test

KW - Marine conditions

KW - Polyhydroxybutyrate

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85173557616&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.167458

DO - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.167458

M3 - Article

C2 - 37777124

AN - SCOPUS:85173557616

VL - 905

JO - Science of the Total Environment

JF - Science of the Total Environment

SN - 0048-9697

M1 - 167458

ER -