Drought Drives Extracellular Polymeric Substances Accumulation and Functional Shifts in Streambed Biofilm Communities

This study investigates the adaptive response of streambed microbial biofilms to water scarcity, focusing on the role of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) production across a gradient of hydrological conditions. Sediment samples from 37 streams in the north-eastern Iberian Peninsula, encompas...

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Detalhes bibliográficos
Autores: Romaní, Anna M., Perujo, Núria, Pujol, Marta, Gionchetta, Giulia
Formato: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2025
País:España
Recursos:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Repositorio:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
OAI Identifier:oai:digital.csic.es:10261/408370
Acesso em linha:http://hdl.handle.net/10261/408370
https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/105022844226
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palavra-chave:Prokaryotic communities
Biofilm matrix
Drought
Heterotrophic functional diversity
Intermittent streams
Microbial functional fingerprint
http://metadata.un.org/sdg/6
http://metadata.un.org/sdg/3
http://metadata.un.org/sdg/11
http://metadata.un.org/sdg/9
Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation
Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
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spelling Drought Drives Extracellular Polymeric Substances Accumulation and Functional Shifts in Streambed Biofilm CommunitiesRomaní, Anna M.Perujo, NúriaPujol, MartaGionchetta, GiuliaProkaryotic communitiesBiofilm matrixDroughtHeterotrophic functional diversityIntermittent streamsMicrobial functional fingerprinthttp://metadata.un.org/sdg/6http://metadata.un.org/sdg/3http://metadata.un.org/sdg/11http://metadata.un.org/sdg/9Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all agesEnsure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for allBuild resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovationMake cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainableThis study investigates the adaptive response of streambed microbial biofilms to water scarcity, focusing on the role of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) production across a gradient of hydrological conditions. Sediment samples from 37 streams in the north-eastern Iberian Peninsula, encompassing both permanent and intermittent flow regimes, were analysed for EPS-polysaccharide content, microbial biomass, chlorophyll-a, and biofilm function (carbon substrate utilization profiles). Drought conditions were characterized based on the number of dry days over the eight months preceding sampling. Results revealed that EPS production increased significantly in intermittent streams, particularly under long-term drought, reaffirming that EPS synthesis is a key microbial strategy to mitigate desiccation stress. Notably, when normalized to prokaryotic density, EPS content exhibited a significant positive correlation with drought duration, emphasizing the dominant role of heterotrophic bacteria over algae in EPS secretion. However, EPS content alone was not a universal indicator of water scarcity, which showed a large variability in permanently flowing streams. Functional profiling showed clear shifts in carbon substrate utilization associated with stream hydrology. Intermittent streams exhibited a broader metabolic range, and particularly a capacity to use phenolic compounds, suggesting an adaptation to terrestrial organic matter inputs. Contrary to expectations, functional diversity increased in drier conditions, challenging assumptions derived from controlled experiments and underscoring the resilience of Mediterranean microbial biofilm communities to drought. These findings provide empirical support for EPS-mediated drought adaptation in natural biofilms and highlight functional diversity as a potential mechanism maintaining ecosystem processes under increasing aridity due to climate change.Open Access funding provided thanks to the CRUE-CSIC agreement with Springer Nature. Financial support was provided by the the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (FUNSTREAM project, CGL2014-58760-C3-R), and the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (Grant/Award Number: PID2021-123735OB-C21). GG was supported by a Junior Leader Incoming Fellowship contract (LCF/BQ/PI23/11970040) funded by La Caixa Foundation (ID 100010434). NP acknowledges support from the German Research Foundation (DFG) through research grant PE 3766/1–1. AMR acknowledges the funding from the AGAUR-ICREA Academia award (Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies, ref. 2024 ICREA 00144).Peer reviewedSpringer Nature0000-0001-5183-82310000-0002-2072-92830000-0001-9615-882XConsejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas [https://ror.org/02gfc7t72]202520252025info:eu-repo/semantics/articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501Publisher's versioninfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionhttp://hdl.handle.net/10261/408370https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/105022844226reponame:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSICinstname:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)InglésMicrobial ecologyhttps://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-025-02649-3Síinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:digital.csic.es:10261/4083702026-05-22T06:33:51Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Drought Drives Extracellular Polymeric Substances Accumulation and Functional Shifts in Streambed Biofilm Communities
title Drought Drives Extracellular Polymeric Substances Accumulation and Functional Shifts in Streambed Biofilm Communities
spellingShingle Drought Drives Extracellular Polymeric Substances Accumulation and Functional Shifts in Streambed Biofilm Communities
Romaní, Anna M.
Prokaryotic communities
Biofilm matrix
Drought
Heterotrophic functional diversity
Intermittent streams
Microbial functional fingerprint
http://metadata.un.org/sdg/6
http://metadata.un.org/sdg/3
http://metadata.un.org/sdg/11
http://metadata.un.org/sdg/9
Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation
Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
title_short Drought Drives Extracellular Polymeric Substances Accumulation and Functional Shifts in Streambed Biofilm Communities
title_full Drought Drives Extracellular Polymeric Substances Accumulation and Functional Shifts in Streambed Biofilm Communities
title_fullStr Drought Drives Extracellular Polymeric Substances Accumulation and Functional Shifts in Streambed Biofilm Communities
title_full_unstemmed Drought Drives Extracellular Polymeric Substances Accumulation and Functional Shifts in Streambed Biofilm Communities
title_sort Drought Drives Extracellular Polymeric Substances Accumulation and Functional Shifts in Streambed Biofilm Communities
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Romaní, Anna M.
Perujo, Núria
Pujol, Marta
Gionchetta, Giulia
author Romaní, Anna M.
author_facet Romaní, Anna M.
Perujo, Núria
Pujol, Marta
Gionchetta, Giulia
author_role author
author2 Perujo, Núria
Pujol, Marta
Gionchetta, Giulia
author2_role author
author
author
dc.contributor.none.fl_str_mv 0000-0001-5183-8231
0000-0002-2072-9283
0000-0001-9615-882X
Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas [https://ror.org/02gfc7t72]
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Prokaryotic communities
Biofilm matrix
Drought
Heterotrophic functional diversity
Intermittent streams
Microbial functional fingerprint
http://metadata.un.org/sdg/6
http://metadata.un.org/sdg/3
http://metadata.un.org/sdg/11
http://metadata.un.org/sdg/9
Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation
Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
topic Prokaryotic communities
Biofilm matrix
Drought
Heterotrophic functional diversity
Intermittent streams
Microbial functional fingerprint
http://metadata.un.org/sdg/6
http://metadata.un.org/sdg/3
http://metadata.un.org/sdg/11
http://metadata.un.org/sdg/9
Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation
Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
description This study investigates the adaptive response of streambed microbial biofilms to water scarcity, focusing on the role of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) production across a gradient of hydrological conditions. Sediment samples from 37 streams in the north-eastern Iberian Peninsula, encompassing both permanent and intermittent flow regimes, were analysed for EPS-polysaccharide content, microbial biomass, chlorophyll-a, and biofilm function (carbon substrate utilization profiles). Drought conditions were characterized based on the number of dry days over the eight months preceding sampling. Results revealed that EPS production increased significantly in intermittent streams, particularly under long-term drought, reaffirming that EPS synthesis is a key microbial strategy to mitigate desiccation stress. Notably, when normalized to prokaryotic density, EPS content exhibited a significant positive correlation with drought duration, emphasizing the dominant role of heterotrophic bacteria over algae in EPS secretion. However, EPS content alone was not a universal indicator of water scarcity, which showed a large variability in permanently flowing streams. Functional profiling showed clear shifts in carbon substrate utilization associated with stream hydrology. Intermittent streams exhibited a broader metabolic range, and particularly a capacity to use phenolic compounds, suggesting an adaptation to terrestrial organic matter inputs. Contrary to expectations, functional diversity increased in drier conditions, challenging assumptions derived from controlled experiments and underscoring the resilience of Mediterranean microbial biofilm communities to drought. These findings provide empirical support for EPS-mediated drought adaptation in natural biofilms and highlight functional diversity as a potential mechanism maintaining ecosystem processes under increasing aridity due to climate change.
publishDate 2025
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2025
2025
2025
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501
Publisher's version
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
format article
status_str publishedVersion
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv http://hdl.handle.net/10261/408370
https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/105022844226
url http://hdl.handle.net/10261/408370
https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/105022844226
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Inglés
language_invalid_str_mv Inglés
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv Microbial ecology
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-025-02649-3
Sí
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Springer Nature
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Springer Nature
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
instname:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
instname_str Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
reponame_str DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
collection DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
repository.name.fl_str_mv
repository.mail.fl_str_mv
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