Hydrodynamic conditions affect the proteomic profile of marine biofilms formed by filamentous cyanobacterium

Abstract

Proteomic studies on cyanobacterial biofilms can be an effective approach to unravel metabolic pathways involved in biofilm formation and, consequently, obtain more efficient biofouling control strategies. Biofilm development by the filamentous cyanobacterium Toxifilum sp. LEGE 06021 was evaluated on different surfaces, glass and perspex, and at two significant shear rates for marine environments (4 s−1 and 40 s−1). Higher biofilm development was observed at 4 s−1. Overall, about 1877 proteins were identified, and differences in proteome were more noticeable between hydrodynamic conditions than those found between surfaces. Twenty Differentially Expressed Proteins (DEPs) were found between 4 s−1 vs. 40 s−1. On glass, some of these DEPs include phage tail proteins, a carotenoid protein, cyanophynase glutathione-dependent formaldehyde dehydrogenase, and the MoaD/ThiS family protein, while on perspex, DEPs include transketolase, dihydroxy-acid dehydratase, iron ABC transporter substrate-binding protein and protein NusG. This study contributes to developing a standardized protocol for proteomic analysis of filamentous cyanobacterial biofilms. This kind of proteomic analysis can also be useful for different research fields, given the broad spectrum of promising secondary metabolites and added-value compounds produced by cyanobacteria, as well as for the development of new antibiofilm strategies.

How do Graphene Composite Surfaces Affect the Development and Structure of Marine Cyanobacterial Biofilms?

“…Biofilm formation in this platform includes the shear rate valued for a ship in a harbor, 50 s −1 [50], and it was shown to predict the biofouling behavior observed upon immersion in the sea for prolonged periods [51]. Moreover, to simulate marine biofilm formation on submerged surfaces, microtiter plates were kept under 14 h light (8-10 µmol photons m −2 s −1 )/10 h dark cycles [47,52,53]. The light intensity was decreased from 10-30 µmol photons m −2 s −1 to 8-10 µmol photons m −2 s −1 because biofouling organisms have reduced access to light when in immersion (either by the effect of the marine equipment/device/ship to which they are attached, or by the influence of the biofilm structure in which the accumulation of different organisms occurs, and some of them are located in the inners layers of biofilm).…”

Characterization and biofouling potential analysis of two cyanobacterial strains isolated from Cape Verde and Morocco

“…Hence, a porous architecture was not detected in the early biofilm growth stage. Moreover, previous studies on filamentous (Romeu et al 2019(Romeu et al , 2020(Romeu et al , 2022 and coccoid (Faria et al 2020b) cyanobacterial biofilms also showed that in the initial stages of biofilm development, the chlorophyll a amount is lower than those detected in the later stages of biofilm development. Therefore, it is more reasonable that Leptothoe sp.…”

“…LEGE 181153 may be more harmful in marine environments where this surface material is present. Additional assays may evaluate the expression of virulence, adhesion and biofilm development factors by the use of omics approaches to complement the present study (Babele, Kumar and Chaturvedi 2019;Romeu et al 2022). Additionally, to consider the biofilm forming potential of these cyanobacterial strains in real marine environments, it would be interesting to immerse these surfaces in the sea water for prolonged periods, as already performed by the group for other promising coatings against marine biofouling (Silva et al 2021).…”

Development of Antifouling Strategies for Marine Applications

“…The improvement of environmentally friendly marine coatings such as protein-resistant polymers, FRCs, and bioinspired antifouling coatings is crucial for improved antifouling strategies. Advances in genetic tools may also provide a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms and biofilm-related functions [ 123 , 124 , 125 ], creating a high-throughput screening approach to find new targets for disrupting biofilms. In the progress of novel antifouling coatings, factors related to production, application, maintenance, and service life should be considered.…”

“…The results indicated that hydrodynamics affect the biomass, maximum thickness, and surface area of biofilms, with the higher shear stress (5.6 Pa) promoting thinner biofilms than the lower shear stress (0.2 Pa). Particularly on cyanobacterial biofilms, studies performed on coccoid [ 120 , 121 ] and filamentous [ 122 , 123 , 124 , 125 ] cyanobacteria at controlled hydrodynamic conditions (values of shear rate of 4 s −1 and 40 s −1 ) showed a higher biofilm development at the lower shear rate. A study that aimed to evaluate the settlement of diatoms on different antifouling coatings also revealed that biofilm adhesion, diatom abundance, and diversity were found to be significantly different between static and dynamic treatments [ 126 ].…”