Rhamnolipids Mediate the Effects of a Gastropod Grazer in Regards to Carbon–Nitrogen Stoichiometry of Intertidal Microbial Biofilms

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dc.contributor.authorGill, Stephanie P.
dc.contributor.authorKregting, Louise
dc.contributor.authorBanat, Ibrahim M.
dc.contributor.authorArnscheidt, Joerg
dc.contributor.authorHunter, Billy
dc.date.accessioned2022-12-21T14:21:47Z
dc.date.available2022-12-21T14:21:47Z
dc.date.issued2022-12-12
dc.descriptionPublication history: Accepted - 9 December 2022; Published online - 12 December 2022en_US
dc.description.abstractMicrobial biofilms have co-evolved with grazing animals, such as gastropods, to develop mutually beneficial relationships. Although microbial biofilms demonstrate resilience and resistance to chemical exposure, pre-existing relationships can be negatively affected by chemical input. In this study, we determined how the grazer, Littorina littorea (common periwinkle sea snail), and a biological surfactant (rhamnolipid) interact on a phototrophic marine biofilm. Biofilms were cultured in 32 twenty-liter buckets at the Queen’s University Marine Laboratory in Portaferry, Northern Ireland on clay tiles that were either exposed to 150 ppm of a rhamnolipid solution or that had no chemical exposure. L. littorea were added into half of the buckets, and biofilms were developed over 14 days. Biofilms exposed to grazing alone demonstrated high tolerance to the disturbance, while those growing on rhamnolipid-exposed substrate demonstrated resistance but experienced slight declines in carbon and stoichiometric ratios. However, when exposed to both, biofilms had significant decreases in stoichiometry and declined in productivity and respiration. This is problematic, as continuing marine pollution increases the likelihood that biofilms will be exposed to combinations of stressors and disturbances. Loss of biofilm productivity within these areas could lead to the loss of an important food source and nutrient cycler within the marine ecosystem.en_US
dc.description.sponsorshipSG is funded by an Ulster University Vice Chancellors Doctoral Research Fellowship and received additional support through the G and M Williams Fund. Analytical costs were partly supported by core funding from the AFBI Aquatic Chemistry Laboratory (BH)en_US
dc.identifierhttp://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12518/505
dc.identifier.citationGill, S.P., Kregting, L., Banat, I.M., Arnscheidt, J. and Hunter, W.R. (2022) ‘Rhamnolipids Mediate the Effects of a Gastropod Grazer in Regards to Carbon–Nitrogen Stoichiometry of Intertidal Microbial Biofilms’, Applied Sciences. MDPI AG. Available at: https://doi.org/10.3390/app122412729.en_US
dc.identifier.issn2076-3417
dc.identifier.urihttps://doi.org/10.3390/app122412729
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherMDPIen_US
dc.rights© 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/).en_US
dc.subjectbiofilmen_US
dc.subjectsurfactantsen_US
dc.subjectmarine snailsen_US
dc.subjectmetabolic activityen_US
dc.subjectaquatic toxicologyen_US
dc.titleRhamnolipids Mediate the Effects of a Gastropod Grazer in Regards to Carbon–Nitrogen Stoichiometry of Intertidal Microbial Biofilmsen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US
dcterms.dateAccepted2022-12-09
dcterms.dateSubmitted2022-11-13

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