Impacts of Anthropogenic Pollutants on Benthic Prokaryotic Communities in Mediterranean Touristic Ports
Ports and marinas are central nodes in transport network and play a strategic role in coastal development. They receive pollution from land-based sources, marine traffic and port infrastructures on one side and constitute a potential pollution source for the adjacent coastal areas on the other. The...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2020-06-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Microbiology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fmicb.2020.01234/full |
| _version_ | 1818538407138164736 |
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| author | Elena Tamburini Lapo Doni Lapo Doni Raffaela Lussu Federico Meloni Giovanna Cappai Alessandra Carucci Enrico Casalone Giorgio Mastromei Francesco Vitali Francesco Vitali |
| author_facet | Elena Tamburini Lapo Doni Lapo Doni Raffaela Lussu Federico Meloni Giovanna Cappai Alessandra Carucci Enrico Casalone Giorgio Mastromei Francesco Vitali Francesco Vitali |
| author_sort | Elena Tamburini |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Ports and marinas are central nodes in transport network and play a strategic role in coastal development. They receive pollution from land-based sources, marine traffic and port infrastructures on one side and constitute a potential pollution source for the adjacent coastal areas on the other. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of organic and inorganic co-contamination on the prokaryotic communities in sediments from three Mediterranean ports. The structure and composition of the bacterial and archaeal communities were assessed by targeted metagenomic analysis of the 16S rRNA gene, and the links of prokaryotic communities with environmental and pollution variables were investigated. The harbors presented pronounced site-specificity in the environmental properties and pollution status. Consistently, the structure of archaeal and bacterial communities in surface sediments exhibited a strong spatial variation among the three investigated ports. On the contrary, a wide overlap in composition of prokaryotic assemblages among sites was found, but local variation in the community composition and loss of prokaryotic diversity was highlighted in a heavily impacted port sector near a shipyard. We provided evidences that organic matter, metals and PAHs as well as temperature and salinity play a strong role in structuring benthic bacterial communities significantly contributing to the understanding of their responses to anthropogenic perturbations in marine coastal areas. Among metals, copper was recognized as strongly associated with the observed changes in bacterial assemblages. Overall, this study provides the first assessment of the effects exerted by multiple organic and inorganic contaminations on benthic prokaryotes in ports over a large spatial scale and designates bacterial community as a candidate tool for the monitoring of the sediment quality status in harbors. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-11T21:28:35Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-8b0b04134968456d84fc5972b52f346d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-302X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-11T21:28:35Z |
| publishDate | 2020-06-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Microbiology |
| spelling | doaj.art-8b0b04134968456d84fc5972b52f346d2022-12-22T00:50:15ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Microbiology1664-302X2020-06-011110.3389/fmicb.2020.01234536034Impacts of Anthropogenic Pollutants on Benthic Prokaryotic Communities in Mediterranean Touristic PortsElena Tamburini0Lapo Doni1Lapo Doni2Raffaela Lussu3Federico Meloni4Giovanna Cappai5Alessandra Carucci6Enrico Casalone7Giorgio Mastromei8Francesco Vitali9Francesco Vitali10Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Cagliari, Cagliari, ItalyDepartment of Biomedical Sciences, University of Cagliari, Cagliari, ItalyDepartment of Biology, University of Florence, Florence, ItalyDepartment of Biomedical Sciences, University of Cagliari, Cagliari, ItalyDepartment of Biomedical Sciences, University of Cagliari, Cagliari, ItalyDepartment of Civil-Environmental Engineering and Architecture, University of Cagliari, Cagliari, ItalyDepartment of Civil-Environmental Engineering and Architecture, University of Cagliari, Cagliari, ItalyDepartment of Biology, University of Florence, Florence, ItalyDepartment of Biology, University of Florence, Florence, ItalyDepartment of Biomedical Sciences, University of Cagliari, Cagliari, ItalyInstitute of Agricultural Biology and Biotechnology, National Research Council, Pisa, ItalyPorts and marinas are central nodes in transport network and play a strategic role in coastal development. They receive pollution from land-based sources, marine traffic and port infrastructures on one side and constitute a potential pollution source for the adjacent coastal areas on the other. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of organic and inorganic co-contamination on the prokaryotic communities in sediments from three Mediterranean ports. The structure and composition of the bacterial and archaeal communities were assessed by targeted metagenomic analysis of the 16S rRNA gene, and the links of prokaryotic communities with environmental and pollution variables were investigated. The harbors presented pronounced site-specificity in the environmental properties and pollution status. Consistently, the structure of archaeal and bacterial communities in surface sediments exhibited a strong spatial variation among the three investigated ports. On the contrary, a wide overlap in composition of prokaryotic assemblages among sites was found, but local variation in the community composition and loss of prokaryotic diversity was highlighted in a heavily impacted port sector near a shipyard. We provided evidences that organic matter, metals and PAHs as well as temperature and salinity play a strong role in structuring benthic bacterial communities significantly contributing to the understanding of their responses to anthropogenic perturbations in marine coastal areas. Among metals, copper was recognized as strongly associated with the observed changes in bacterial assemblages. Overall, this study provides the first assessment of the effects exerted by multiple organic and inorganic contaminations on benthic prokaryotes in ports over a large spatial scale and designates bacterial community as a candidate tool for the monitoring of the sediment quality status in harbors.https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fmicb.2020.01234/fullbacteriaarchaeanext generation sequencingmetalhydrocarbonharbor |
| spellingShingle | Elena Tamburini Lapo Doni Lapo Doni Raffaela Lussu Federico Meloni Giovanna Cappai Alessandra Carucci Enrico Casalone Giorgio Mastromei Francesco Vitali Francesco Vitali Impacts of Anthropogenic Pollutants on Benthic Prokaryotic Communities in Mediterranean Touristic Ports Frontiers in Microbiology bacteria archaea next generation sequencing metal hydrocarbon harbor |
| title | Impacts of Anthropogenic Pollutants on Benthic Prokaryotic Communities in Mediterranean Touristic Ports |
| title_full | Impacts of Anthropogenic Pollutants on Benthic Prokaryotic Communities in Mediterranean Touristic Ports |
| title_fullStr | Impacts of Anthropogenic Pollutants on Benthic Prokaryotic Communities in Mediterranean Touristic Ports |
| title_full_unstemmed | Impacts of Anthropogenic Pollutants on Benthic Prokaryotic Communities in Mediterranean Touristic Ports |
| title_short | Impacts of Anthropogenic Pollutants on Benthic Prokaryotic Communities in Mediterranean Touristic Ports |
| title_sort | impacts of anthropogenic pollutants on benthic prokaryotic communities in mediterranean touristic ports |
| topic | bacteria archaea next generation sequencing metal hydrocarbon harbor |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fmicb.2020.01234/full |
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