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Recovery Capacity of Subaerial Biofilms Grown on Granite Buildings Subjected to Simulated Drought in a Climate Change Context

  • Physiology and Biotechnology
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Abstract

Variations in environmental conditions in the context of climate change are expected to affect biofilm-associated organisms on granite heritage buildings. The number and duration of drought periods should be considered, as these factors will affect the availability of water for the microorganisms. In this study, mature biofilms were exposed to various drying-rewetting cycles, and the effects of water stress on the SAB and their resilience were evaluated in terms of the variation in microbial composition, extracellular polymeric substance production, and photosynthetic efficiency. The structure of the biofilm changed after exposure to drought, becoming more heterogeneous and with an increase in the carbohydrate to protein ratio, especially after the second day of total drought. YMAX and YEF parameters proved to be the most informative, showing that the photosynthetic efficiency and recovery capacity were inversely related to the duration of the drought period. Furthermore, cyanobacteria resisted drought better than algae, giving rise to a decrease in the algae to cyanobacteria ratio.

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Data Availability

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Funding

This study was financed through the Project CGL2016-79778-R from the Agencia Estatal de Investigación/Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional, European Union (AEI/FEDER, UE). E. Fuentes is financially supported by a PhD Fellowship-Contract from Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MICINN-FPI) (BES-2017-079927).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento Edafoloxía e Química agrícola, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidade Santiago de Compostela, 15782, Santiago de Compostela, Spain

    Elsa Fuentes & Beatriz Prieto

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  1. Elsa Fuentes
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  2. Beatriz Prieto
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Correspondence to Elsa Fuentes.

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All authors assure that this is an original work, which has not been previously published elsewhere. All authors have been personally and actively involved in the work.

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Highlights

• The deteriorating activity of the colonizing organisms of Cultural Heritage will be affected by environmental changes related to climate change.

• The effect of water restriction on biofilm performance depends on the duration of drought.

• In the tested laboratory conditions, biofilms did not show recovery capacity after 2 days of total drought.

• Biofilms developed on granite seems to have low resilience to reduction in water availability.

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Fuentes, E., Prieto, B. Recovery Capacity of Subaerial Biofilms Grown on Granite Buildings Subjected to Simulated Drought in a Climate Change Context. Microb Ecol 82, 761–769 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-021-01692-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-021-01692-0

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