Unveiling the overlooked microbial niches thriving on building exteriors
Rapid urbanization in the Asia-Pacific region is expected to place two-thirds of its population in concrete-dominated urban landscapes by 2050. While diverse architectural facades define the unique appearance of these urban systems. There remains a significant gap in our understanding of the composi...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2024-05-01
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| Series: | Environment International |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412024002356 |
| _version_ | 1797200837935628288 |
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| author | Yilong Hao Changyi Lu Qian Xiang Anqi Sun Jian-Qiang Su Qing-Lin Chen |
| author_facet | Yilong Hao Changyi Lu Qian Xiang Anqi Sun Jian-Qiang Su Qing-Lin Chen |
| author_sort | Yilong Hao |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Rapid urbanization in the Asia-Pacific region is expected to place two-thirds of its population in concrete-dominated urban landscapes by 2050. While diverse architectural facades define the unique appearance of these urban systems. There remains a significant gap in our understanding of the composition, assembly, and ecological potential of microbial communities on building exteriors. Here, we examined bacterial and protistan communities on building surfaces along an urbanization gradient (urban, suburban and rural regions), investigating their spatial patterns and the driving factors behind their presence. A total of 55 bacterial and protist phyla were identified. The bacterial community was predominantly composed of Proteobacteria (33.7% to 67.5%). The protistan community exhibited a prevalence of Opisthokonta and Archaeplastida (17.5% to 82.1% and 1.8% to 61.2%, respectively). The composition and functionality of bacterial communities exhibited spatial patterns correlated with urbanization. In urban buildings, factors such as facade type, light exposure, and building height had comparatively less impact on bacterial composition compared to suburban and rural areas. The highest bacterial diversity and lowest Weighted Average Community Identity (WACI) were observed on suburban buildings, followed by rural buildings. In contrast, protists did not show spatial distribution characteristics related to facade type, light exposure, building height and urbanization level. The distinct spatial patterns of protists were primarily shaped by community diffusion and the bottom-up regulation exerted by bacterial communities. Together, our findings suggest that building exteriors serve as attachment points for local microbial metacommunities, offering unique habitats where bacteria and protists exhibit independent adaptive strategies closely tied to the overall ecological potential of the community. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-24T07:38:00Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-00e89b5bc64244e097b9bbbb32eed61f |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0160-4120 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T07:38:00Z |
| publishDate | 2024-05-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environment International |
| spelling | doaj.art-00e89b5bc64244e097b9bbbb32eed61f2024-04-20T04:17:10ZengElsevierEnvironment International0160-41202024-05-01187108649Unveiling the overlooked microbial niches thriving on building exteriorsYilong Hao0Changyi Lu1Qian Xiang2Anqi Sun3Jian-Qiang Su4Qing-Lin Chen5Key Laboratory of Urban Environment and Health, Ningbo Observation and Research Station, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen 361021, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China; Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Urban Environmental Processes and Pollution Control, CAS Haixi Industrial Technology Innovation Center in Beilun, Ningbo 315830, ChinaKey Laboratory of Urban Environment and Health, Ningbo Observation and Research Station, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen 361021, China; Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Urban Environmental Processes and Pollution Control, CAS Haixi Industrial Technology Innovation Center in Beilun, Ningbo 315830, ChinaKey Laboratory of Urban Environment and Health, Ningbo Observation and Research Station, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen 361021, China; Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Urban Environmental Processes and Pollution Control, CAS Haixi Industrial Technology Innovation Center in Beilun, Ningbo 315830, ChinaKey Laboratory of Urban Environment and Health, Ningbo Observation and Research Station, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen 361021, China; Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Urban Environmental Processes and Pollution Control, CAS Haixi Industrial Technology Innovation Center in Beilun, Ningbo 315830, ChinaKey Laboratory of Urban Environment and Health, Ningbo Observation and Research Station, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen 361021, ChinaKey Laboratory of Urban Environment and Health, Ningbo Observation and Research Station, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen 361021, China; Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Urban Environmental Processes and Pollution Control, CAS Haixi Industrial Technology Innovation Center in Beilun, Ningbo 315830, China; Corresponding author.Rapid urbanization in the Asia-Pacific region is expected to place two-thirds of its population in concrete-dominated urban landscapes by 2050. While diverse architectural facades define the unique appearance of these urban systems. There remains a significant gap in our understanding of the composition, assembly, and ecological potential of microbial communities on building exteriors. Here, we examined bacterial and protistan communities on building surfaces along an urbanization gradient (urban, suburban and rural regions), investigating their spatial patterns and the driving factors behind their presence. A total of 55 bacterial and protist phyla were identified. The bacterial community was predominantly composed of Proteobacteria (33.7% to 67.5%). The protistan community exhibited a prevalence of Opisthokonta and Archaeplastida (17.5% to 82.1% and 1.8% to 61.2%, respectively). The composition and functionality of bacterial communities exhibited spatial patterns correlated with urbanization. In urban buildings, factors such as facade type, light exposure, and building height had comparatively less impact on bacterial composition compared to suburban and rural areas. The highest bacterial diversity and lowest Weighted Average Community Identity (WACI) were observed on suburban buildings, followed by rural buildings. In contrast, protists did not show spatial distribution characteristics related to facade type, light exposure, building height and urbanization level. The distinct spatial patterns of protists were primarily shaped by community diffusion and the bottom-up regulation exerted by bacterial communities. Together, our findings suggest that building exteriors serve as attachment points for local microbial metacommunities, offering unique habitats where bacteria and protists exhibit independent adaptive strategies closely tied to the overall ecological potential of the community.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412024002356Urban microbiomeBuilding exteriorsProtistsMicrobial community |
| spellingShingle | Yilong Hao Changyi Lu Qian Xiang Anqi Sun Jian-Qiang Su Qing-Lin Chen Unveiling the overlooked microbial niches thriving on building exteriors Environment International Urban microbiome Building exteriors Protists Microbial community |
| title | Unveiling the overlooked microbial niches thriving on building exteriors |
| title_full | Unveiling the overlooked microbial niches thriving on building exteriors |
| title_fullStr | Unveiling the overlooked microbial niches thriving on building exteriors |
| title_full_unstemmed | Unveiling the overlooked microbial niches thriving on building exteriors |
| title_short | Unveiling the overlooked microbial niches thriving on building exteriors |
| title_sort | unveiling the overlooked microbial niches thriving on building exteriors |
| topic | Urban microbiome Building exteriors Protists Microbial community |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412024002356 |
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