Availability of glucose and light modulates the structure and function of a microbial biofilm

Abstract

We have studied the differences in the organic matter processing and biofilm composition and structure between autoheterotrophic and heterotrophic biofilm communities. Microbial communities grown on artificial biofilms were monitored, following incubation under light and dark conditions and with or without the addition of glucose as a labile organic compound. Glucose addition greatly affected the microbial biofilm composition as shown by differences in 16S rRNA gene fingerprints. A significant increase in beta-glucosidase and peptidase enzyme activities were also observed in glucose-amended biofilms incubated in the dark, suggesting an active bacterial community. Light enhanced the algal and bacterial growth, as well as higher extracellular enzyme activity, thereby indicating a tight algal-bacterial coupling in biofilms incubated under illumination. In these biofilms, organic compounds excreted by photosynthetic microorganisms were readily available for bacterial heterotrophs. This algal-bacterial relationship weakened in glucose-amended biofilms grown in the light, probably because heterotrophic bacteria preferentially use external labile compounds. These results suggest that the availability of labile organic matter in the flowing water and the presence of light may alter the biofilm composition and function, therefore affecting the processing capacity of organic matter in the stream ecosystem.