Comparative Analysis of the Taxonomic Composition of Bacterial Fouling Developing on Various Materials Exposed to Aqueous Environments

The work was aimed at detection of potential degraders of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polystyrene (PS), and steel 20 based on comparison of the taxonomic composition of the biofilm communities formed on these materials immersed in aqueous environments of diverse origin (marine, natural freshwater, and industrial) in different climatic regions. The libraries obtained by high-throughput sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene V3-V4 region were mainly grouped according to the media types. The composition and relative abundance of the taxa (both at the phylum/class and the genus levels) differed significantly between the groups of libraries; within the groups, these parameters varied depending mainly on the incubation time and on antimicrobial treatment (for industrial samples), while the material of the samples had less effect. Our results indicated that industrial recirculated water was more aggressive against polymer materials, with potential degraders of the polymers (PET and PS) belonging to the genera Pseudomonas, Acidovorax, and Arenimonas. Iron- and sulfur-oxidizing bacteria of the genera Sulfurimonas and Mariprofundus are probably involved in steel biocorrosion in seawater.

Automated summary

This work aimed to detect potential degraders of PET, PS, and steel based on comparison of biofilm communities formed on different materials in various aqueous environments. Results showed that industrial recirculated water was more aggressive towards polymer materials, while sulfur- and iron-oxidizing bacteria were likely involved in steel biocorrosion in seawater.