Publication Details

Category Text Publication
Reference Category Journals
DOI 10.1093/femsec/fiae069
Licence creative commons licence
Title (Primary) Unbalanced predatory communities and a lack of microbial degraders characterize the microbiota of a highly sewage-polluted Eastern-Mediterranean stream
Author Cohen, Y.; Johnke, J.; Abed-Rabbo, A.; Pasternak, Z.; Chatzinotas, A.; Jurkevitch, E.
Source Titel FEMS Microbiology Ecology
Year 2024
Department AME
Volume 100
Issue 6
Page From fiae069
Language englisch
Topic T7 Bioeconomy
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Keywords Bdellovibrio and like organisms; predation; protists; river; sewage; water pollution
Abstract Wastewater pollution of water resources takes a heavy toll on humans and on the environment. In highly polluted water bodies, self-purification is impaired, as the capacity of the riverine microbes to regenerate the ecosystem is overwhelmed. To date, information on the composition, dynamics and functions of the microbial communities in highly sewage-impacted rivers is limited, in particular in arid and semi-arid environments. In this year-long study of the highly sewage-impacted Al-Nar/Kidron stream in the Barr al-Khalil/Judean Desert east of Jerusalem, we show, using 16S and 18S rRNA gene-based community analysis and targeted qPCR, that both the bacterial and micro-eukaryotic communities, while abundant, exhibited low stability and diversity. Hydrolyzers of organics compounds, as well as nitrogen and phosphorus recyclers were lacking, pointing at reduced potential for regeneration. Furthermore, facultative bacterial predators were almost absent, and the obligate predators Bdellovibrio and like organisms were found at very low abundance. Finally, the micro-eukaryotic predatory community differed from those of other freshwater environments. The lack of essential biochemical functions may explain the stream's inability to self-purify, while the very low levels of bacterial predators and the disturbed assemblages of micro-eukaryote predators present in Al-Nar/Kidron may contribute to community instability and disfunction.
Persistent UFZ Identifier https://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=20939&ufzPublicationIdentifier=29503
Cohen, Y., Johnke, J., Abed-Rabbo, A., Pasternak, Z., Chatzinotas, A., Jurkevitch, E. (2024):
Unbalanced predatory communities and a lack of microbial degraders characterize the microbiota of a highly sewage-polluted Eastern-Mediterranean stream
FEMS Microbiol. Ecol. 100 (6), fiae069 10.1093/femsec/fiae069