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Research article2022Peer reviewedOpen access

Bacterial composition in Swedish raw drinking water reveals three major interacting ubiquitous metacommunities

Brindefalk, Bjorn; Brolin, Harald; Save-Soderbergh, Melle; Karlsson, Edvin; Sundell, David; Wikstrom, Per; Jacobsson, Karin; Toljander, Jonas; Stenberg, Per; Sjodin, Andreas; Dryselius, Rikard; Forsman, Mats; Ahlinder, Jon

Abstract

Background Surface raw water used as a source for drinking water production is a critical resource, sensitive to contamination. We conducted a study on Swedish raw water sources, aiming to identify mutually co-occurring metacommunities of bacteria, and environmental factors driving such patterns. Methods The water sources were different regarding nutrient composition, water quality, and climate characteristics, and displayed various degrees of anthropogenic impact. Water inlet samples were collected at six drinking water treatment plants over 3 years, totaling 230 samples. The bacterial communities of DNA sequenced samples (n = 175), obtained by 16S metabarcoding, were analyzed using a joint model for taxa abundance. Results Two major groups of well-defined metacommunities of microorganisms were identified, in addition to a third, less distinct, and taxonomically more diverse group. These three metacommunities showed various associations to the measured environmental data. Predictions for the well-defined metacommunities revealed differing sets of favored metabolic pathways and life strategies. In one community, taxa with methanogenic metabolism were common, while a second community was dominated by taxa with carbohydrate and lipid-focused metabolism. Conclusion The identification of ubiquitous persistent co-occurring bacterial metacommunities in freshwater habitats could potentially facilitate microbial source tracking analysis of contamination issues in freshwater sources.

Keywords

16S rRNA; anthropogenic effects; bacterial community analysis; biotic interactions; generalized linear latent variable model

Published in

Microbiology Open
2022, Volume: 11, number: 5, article number: e1320
Publisher: WILEY

    Sustainable Development Goals

    Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all

    UKÄ Subject classification

    Microbiology
    Oceanography, Hydrology, Water Resources

    Publication identifier

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/mbo3.1320

    Permanent link to this page (URI)

    https://res.slu.se/id/publ/119176